Peter Pan: The Next Generation
by Dreamless-Mermaid
Summary: UPDATED! Wendy Darling, not the Wendy we all know and love, is sick of her mother's rants and raves about her and never wants to grow up. When the family moves to London, Wendy meets the boy who's in her stories and her dream adventures take flight.
1. Moving Day

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 1  
  
A loud rasping sound went through the room. It stopped..then continued. The rasping eventually became louder and turned into a hard knock on the white wooden door. A woman's irritated voice floated through next.  
  
"Wendy, if you don't get up I swear I'll pour a bucket of water on you!" A muffled groan sounded.  
  
"All right, mum I'm up, I'm up! Geez.." A girl's voice said sleepily. Footsteps could be heard walking down a long hallway, turning a corner, then descending a flight of steps.  
  
Wendy Darling opened her eyes slowly, willing them not to close. She sat up in her "bed", reluctantly leaving her soft blue pillow that she had molded to her liking behind. She stretched, yawned and looked to her left. Her midnight blue, almost black, shutters were closed but she could still see through the cracks. Wendy stood up, fixed her Rolling Stones nightshirt and walked to her shutters. She gripped one side and pulled hard, the shutter opening to reveal a dark sky.  
  
'It's still early,' Wendy thought. 'TOO early if you ask me. But at least it's a clear morning.' She looked up to see the last of the diamond white stars twinkling against a curtain of black. She looked at each one of the stars, remembering that every night since she was six, she would sit in front of that very same window and just stare. Her eyes would roam the heavens, searching for a comet to wish upon. She would find a couple and wish but none of them ever came true. Wendy put a hand on the windowpane and looked down on the empty streets of her San Fransisco neighborhood. A light wind ruffled the tops of the trees and no lights were on in any of the surrounding houses. Everyone was sound asleep in they're bed, dreaming peacefully.  
  
"Of course everyone would be asleep. No one in their right mind would be up at five-thirty in the morning on a Saturday." Wendy said miserably. She tore her eyes away from the street and instead roamed around the room. Where once her many posters of old rock bands hung on the white walls were now bare, where her dresser and bookshelf used to stand were gone along with her vanity and bed. The last of her things were in a large brown box that was next to her pink sleeping bag. Wendy suddenly looked at her wristwatch and saw the date. January fifth. She sighed heavily and with feeling.  
  
"Well that's just bloody great. It's my last day in the states and I get to spend my birthday being shuffled from airport to airport. Oh what fun this will be." She added the last part with sarcasm and took out a set of clothes from the box and quickly dressed, tossing her nightshirt into the box. She then popped into the bathroom next door, brush in hand, and quickly brushed her wavy back length brown hair. Wendy started at her reflection, gazing at her face, her brilliantly bright blue eyes and her slender body. She didn't feel thirteen much less look it, Wendy mused. But she didn't have time to worry about that now. She went over her hair one last time and left the empty bathroom, flicking the light off on the way out.  
  
She walked back into her room and bent down to begin to roll up her sleeping bag. Once that was accomplished she shoved it into the box along with her pillow. She impatiently pushed a strand of hair from her eyes as she stood up, box in hands, and slipped on her comfortable grey tennis shoes, not bothering to tie them up. She walked to the doorway and turned around to skim over her empty room one last time. Her eyes went to the spot where her bed had once resided and smiled at the memory of her sitting indian style with her little sister in front of her, the little girl's eyes wide with excitement. Wendy had told a story about pirates, mermaids, indians, and most of all about a boy who never wanted to grow up. She told this story quite frequently to her sister, Amanda, and occasionally the two would dress up and act out scenes that both of them knew by heart. Once in a while Wendy would add a few things to the end of the story and leave Amanda in suspense for the next night, where they would continue where they left off and make up new adventures. But those days were over as Wendy grew up, leaving her ten-year-old mind and stories behind her. She couldn't even remember how it went anymore and Amanda certainly couldn't recall either. She sighed and with those thoughts shut off the light and closed the door slowly, not wanting to look back.  
  
Wendy carefully walked down the stairs, being cautious not to trip, and when she was safely down she walked into the kitchen . She then set the box down on the kitchen counter and tied her shoelaces. No sooner was she done then she was jumped on.  
  
"Come on, Wendy! We can't be late for our plane! Can you believe it? We're moving to London!" A little voice said. Wendy looked down into green eyes that could only belong to her nine-year-old sister. Amanda looked up at her elder excitedly. Wendy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh sure we'll have so much fun together, getting to go window shopping in airports." Amanda shrugged off Wendy's reply and beckoned her sister down to her level. Amanda hugged Wendy tight and kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear,  
  
"Happy birthday, Wendy. Even if mum and dad don't remember you can always count on me to." She then skipped out the back door.  
  
Wendy stood up and stared after Amanda. Every year since she was nine, her mother and father would forget her birthday because they were too busy or too wrapped up in anything important to get away. The only person who gave a care about Wendy's most important day was Amanda. She secretly guessed that Amanda was the favorite in the family, her parents (ESPECIALLY her mother) would always give the girl things and pay more attention to her like Wendy didn't even exist. But every year Amanda always managed to wish Wendy a happy birthday and she could never figure out why. In three more weeks her parents would finally remember, but they would give her a crappy excuse for a present. Wendy didn't really care anymore. She just wanted to get away from it all.  
  
She picked up the box again and trudged out the back door to the small red taxi that was waiting patiently in the driveway.  
  
"Where's dad?" Wendy asked her mother as Wendy put the box in the trunk of the taxi.  
  
"He took the early flight out this morning and said he would meet us in the London airport tonight." Mrs. Darling explained. Wendy nodded.  
  
"So explain to me again why we have to take two airplanes." Wendy said rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
  
"Because we can't take one plane across the country. You should know that by now, you've been to London plenty of times before." Mrs. Darling said irritably.  
  
"Mother, I haven't been there in about eight years. The last time I went I was learning how to ride a bike." Wendy shot back. Mrs. Darling decided to change the subject by pulling lint from her daughter's violent pink and grey lava lamp shirt. Wendy tried to push her mother's hand away. "Mum, please stop. I know my shirt is dirty but I can't help it."  
  
"Your clothes are so retro, Wendy dear. Your shirts are huge and your jeans are always so baggy. Don't you ever want to own a dress or buy makeup and go shopping?" Mrs. Darling asked with..was that hope in her eyes? Wendy, however, was positively disgusted. Buy makeup? Go shopping? Wear a DRESS?! Absolutely not.  
  
"Mum, you know I don't do that stuff! You also know that I REVOLT dresses." Wendy nearly shouted.  
  
"You're going to have to someday, Wendy. You can't be stuck in that..rubbish you call clothes forever," Mrs. Darling said quietly. "And don't shout, you'll wake the neighbors." Wendy's face was twisted in rage, her fists clenched tight, white and shaking. This was the last straw and Wendy had had enough. She was tired of her mother putting down her sense of style, her attitude, what she did and what kind of music she listened to. Mrs. Darling hated everything about Wendy it seemed. Mrs. Darling was so solely focused on her daughter's lacks that she was sometimes embarrassed to be seen with Wendy. Frankly she was sick of it.  
  
"What's wrong with my clothes? I HATE shopping, I HATE makeup and I despise everything and anything to do with dresses. My sense of style is not rubbish and I refuse to change it, especially for you!" Wendy shouted, not bothering to take her mother's words to heart about waking the neighbors. She could care less if she didn't or didn't wake them, they were going to be gone in a few hours anyway. Her cheeks were turning red and angry tears formed in her crystalline blue eyes. She tried to hold them back, not daring to shed one tear in front of her mother. Mrs. Darlings' eyes darted around nervously and said in a deadly calm voice,  
  
"Wendy Darling, I don't care what you say, you're going to have to grow up. Get over this silly fad you're in. You're already thirteen years old and it's time you started taking some responsibility." This time tears spilled over her cheeks and her heart skipped a beat. So her mother HAD remembered. Wendy pushed that thought aside and glared daggers at her mother.  
  
"I WILL NEVER GROW UP! I WILL NEVER TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! I DON'T WANT TO AND I DON'T PLAN ON STARTING!" Wendy shouted at the top of her lungs. She whipped around and stalked to the back of the taxi. She rummaged around in the box, pulled out her cd player and went into the backseat of the car, slamming the door. She wiped her tears away, furious with herself that she let her mother see her weakness. Mrs. Darling stood rooted to the spot and blinked a couple of times before collecting Amanda from the house. Amanda jumped into the backseat next to Wendy while Mrs. Darling slid into the front passenger side.  
  
As the taxi pulled out of the concrete driveway, Wendy turned up her music louder, The Beatles blasting in her ears. Amanda turned in her seat and waved to their house, Wendy refusing to look back as she had done with her room. The scarlet two-story victorian house slowly faded from view, and as the car turned a corner, the house disappeared completely.  
  
Author's Notes: Hey guys! I hope you like chapter 1 of my story. Please go easy on me, as this is my first Peter Pan story. Reviews are always appreciated. See you in the next chapter!  
  
~Dreamless_Mermaid~ 


	2. The Nursery

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 2  
  
"Daddy!" Amanda squealed as she ran into her father's arms. Mr. Darling picked up his youngest daughter and held her close to him. He pushed a stray of Amanda's white-blonde hair behind her ear.  
  
"How were the plane rides?" Mr. Darling asked his wife, Wendy right behind her.  
  
"They were all right. A little turbulance on the way to New York but nothing major." Mrs. Darling said giving Mr. Darling a quick kiss.  
  
"I absolutely loved the plane ride here, daddy! They played a movie and gave me a snack box, made specially for me." Amanda said, who was now back on the ground. Mr. Darling smiled and looked over at Wendy, who was gazing off in the distance.  
  
"You're awfully quiet, Wendy. Something wrong?" He asked. Wendy snapped her attention to her father and blinked.  
  
"Oh no, nothing's wrong, dad. I'm fine." She said giving a small smile. Although Wendy sometimes hated her mother and was annoyed with Amanda, she loved her father dearly. Mrs. Darling was the criticizing type, especially toward Wendy. Amanda was the annoying little sibling who had to do everything you did and bounce all over the place and got away with a lot more things. But Mr. Darling was, thankfully, none of those things. He would never yell at Wendy when he was angry and he would always seem to know what was wrong. Granted he practically always forgot about important things and never remember unless someone told him, but that was just the way he was, Wendy guessed.  
  
The family walked out of the waiting area and went to retrieve their luggage. They walked out of the airport after getting their luggage and into a taxi that Mr. Darling called. Again Wendy sat in the backseat along with Amanda but this time Mr. Darling sat with them while Mrs. Darling took the front seat. The little yellow taxi sped across the highway. Wendy gazed at the scenery and decided that London was her favorite place to be at wintertime. About fifteen minutes later, the taxi left the highway and turned a corner into a quiet little neighborhood. It soon pulled up into a driveway and Wendy practically jumped out of the car. She looked up and squinted her eyes so the sun would not invade them.  
  
She stared up at a pleasant two-story narrow house that was built with red bricks and held a magnificent oak front door. On the first story were two windows, one on the left and one on the right and the same was on the second story.  
  
"What an ancient looking house. Are we going to live here?" Wendy asked, turning to her father. Mr. Darling smiled proudly.  
  
"We sure are. We wouldn't live anywhere else, considering the fact that your mother used to live here." Mr. Darling replied.  
  
"*You* lived here, mum?" Wendy asked amazed.  
  
"When I was growing up, yes. Your great-grandmother Wendy used to live here also. Along with her children and your grandmother." Mrs. Darling said, staring up at the house.  
  
"Wait, great-grandmother? I'm named after her?" Wendy asked.  
  
"Of course, dear. It's tradition in our family to name the first born girl Wendy, also to keep the Darling name." Her mother said.  
  
"I never knew that. What was she like?" Wendy asked.  
  
"Who, dear?" Mrs. Darling asked, confused.  
  
"My great-grandmum! What did she look like, what did she do for fun, that kind of stuff." Wendy said still gazing up at the house.  
  
"You look exactly like her. Granted she didn't wear anything that atrocious, you two were exactly alike in every way. Even the gift of story telling had been passed down to you." Mrs. Darling said helping Amanda and Mr. Darling pull the luggage out of the trunk. Wendy blinked. So *that* was where she got her stories from. Wendy thought she just had a knack for it and a great imagination, but now that she knew her great-grandmother had once possessed it, she was intrigued.  
  
Wendy averted her gaze to the front door, took a step forward and opened it. She stuck her head inside the grand foyer to find a wooden floor, the living room to her right and a huge dining room to her left. She soon ventured inside and her shoes echoed in the empty house. Directly in front of her greeted a staircase that went up and took a sharp curve to the left. Wendy litterally ran up these stairs, turned the corner, ran up the last few set of stairs and came to a halt when she saw the long hallway. A large window over looking the street was at the end. From a distance Wendy could tell that it was dirty and was in desperate need of a good washing, as if it hadn't been cleaned for years. She took a step forward and slowly walked down the hallway, looking left and right. When she got to the end she discovered that there were six doors all together: three on the left and three on the right. The very last door on her right was the one she decided that she wanted to explore. She gripped the white know, turned it, and pushed it open.  
  
The first thing Wendy noticed when she walked into the room was the very large window, larger than the one that was at the end of the hallway. It wasn't like anything she had ever seen. It wasn't bare like ordinary ones, but had beautiful colored glass pane that when the sunlight hit it just right, all of the blue's, green's, red's, yellow's and purple's reflected to the back wall.  
  
"Beautiful," Wendy breathed when she noticed this. She stood to admire it for a moment when suddenly she saw a flicker of light streak by the window. She stared but pushed it aside when she realized that it must have been the sun. There it was again! Only she saw a small ball of sparkle hover in front of the window. This time she knew it wasn't the sunlight playing tricks on her. She ran to the window, fumbled with the lock and threw it up. By the time it was successfully open, she stuck her head outside and looked left and right. Then she turned around and looked up to the sky. The small sparkle of light had gone. Wendy sighed, her eyes filled with disappointment. She pulled her head back inside and continued to look around the room.  
  
Two minutes later, footsteps came bounding up the stairs and Amanda entered her small green backpack in her hand.  
  
"Oooo I like this room. I wonder which one it was when grandma Wendy lived here." Amanda said.  
  
"It was the nursery, it still is, and she's your great-grandmother," Mrs. Darling said, entering the room also. Amanda's eyes lit up.  
  
"I want this room!" She cried. Wendy turned sharply to face her sister.  
  
"No way, you little creaton! I claimed it first!" Wendy said.  
  
"Says who?" Amanda asked putting her hands on her hips.  
  
"Says me! And the fact that it has a large, colorful window." Wendy said, jerking her head toward the still open window. Amanda stomped her foot in protest. She turned to Mrs. Darling.  
  
"Mum, please make Wendy give me the room. It fits me so well! It even has pink wallpaper!" Amanda pleaded. Wendy rolled her eye. There was no use in trying to argue over it now, seeing as how Mrs. Darling always gave Amanda anything she wanted. But to Wendy's surprise, Mrs. Darling shook her head no.  
  
"No on is going to get it. Well unless I have another baby, but that is not going to happen anytime soon. This is the *nursery*. Not and actual bedroom." She said. Wendy folded her arms over her chest. Amanda did the same.  
  
"Where did you sleep?" Wendy asked.  
  
"What do you mean, dear?" Mrs. Darling asked.  
  
"Where did you sleep when you lived here?" Wendy asked again.  
  
"I resided....well here."  
  
"Then why can't I?" Wendy asked.  
  
"And me?" Amanda copied.  
  
"All right fine. You can stay. *Both* of you can since you both seem to want it so badly." Mrs. Darling said. Wendy and Amanda looked at each other positively horrified.  
  
"I'm NOT sharing a room with her!" Wendy shouted pointing a finger at Amanda.  
  
"Likewise!" Amanda shouted. Mrs. Darling shrugged and began to back out of the room.  
  
"Suit yourselves. But if neither of you are willing to share then no one will have the room." She said and left. Wendy and Amanda glared daggers at each other, emerald green eyes piercing into crystalline blue ones. Then Amanda's glare turned into a pout.  
  
"I want the room! Can't you just give it to me? Pink's not you're color anyway." Amanda whined.  
  
"I don't care about the color of the bloody wallpaper! I like it because, call me crazy-" Wendy said.  
  
"Gladly," Amanda muttered. Wendy heard it but chose to ignore her and moved on.  
  
"Call me crazy but something is calling me here. I feel like I'm meant to be here. I mean you know what I'm talking about. You told me you felt like, in some way, that my stories were true. Remember that?" Wendy asked, leaning up against the closest wall. Amanda blinked.  
  
I remember those. About the mermaids, the indians and the pirates right? Yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from. Well instead of one getting the room and one not and being sulky about it, why don't we just do this..." And so Amanda launched into a full-fledged compromise. About an hour later the girls left the room, skipped down the stairs and into the living room where Mr. and Mrs. Darling were examining the floorboards. Wendy then went into explaining that she and Amanda were going to share the nursery. Then when Wendy was old enough, she was going to move into the bedroom across the hallway. Mr. and Mrs. Darling were glad that Wendy and Amanda finally came to an agreement and both went upstairs to explore further, Amanda tagging along with them.  
  
Wendy went outside and wrapped her arms around herself. The sun was starting to sink and a few scattered clouds had hidden it, patches of sunlight shining through the puffs. Wendy smiled and kicked a piece of snow gently. She liked this place so far and had a feeling she was going to have many adventured here. She laughed under her breath and shook her head. Wendy then turned around and went back inside, closing the door behind her. However she was unaware of a figure's shadow laying on the rooftop, a small sparkle of light hovering beside it.  
  
Author's Notes: Hey guys! Sorry if it took me a while to update but I have school and stuff..school sucks! Anyway, just to let some of you know, this is set in the twentieth century, the year 1990. The deal with the whole great-grandmother thing, if none of you understood it, when the original Wendy married, she started the tradition that every first born girl in the family was to be named Wendy Moira Angela Darling and keeping the last name "Darling". So when she married, she had two boys and a girl. When her daughter was married (I know in the movie her name is Jane, but let's just pretend it's not, for the sake of the story) she had one girl. That one girl was Wendy's granddaughter. When that girl married, she had two girls, making Wendy's granddaughter's children be their great-grandmother. If that made ANY sense whatsoever. Yes before starting this story I actually worked out the little family tree in my notebook. Thank God I did otherwise I would be so stuck right now. But anyways, Wendy died in like 1972, when she was 70 years old. Ok, so now I will stop blabbering and go write the next chapter. Please keep the reviews coming!  
  
~Dreamless_Mermaid~ 


	3. I Hate You!

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 3  
  
Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm back for the third chapter. Ok, I should warn you, toward the end it gets PG-13 because of some language and..well you'll see when you get there. I feel like this chapter is very morbid, but some of the things that Wendy says is kinda referring to me and my relationship with my mom. I mean, I don't hate my mother, it's just that sometimes I feel like Wendy, that she's trying to control me. But other than that, my mom's all right. Ok well, I'm going to stop telling you my life story and let you get on with reading my other story! Have fun and please keep those reviews coming! Thanks to all who have reviewed so far.  
  
The first week for Wendy went by relatively..disaterous. Mrs. Darling had enrolled both of her daughters into a private all girls academy, a few miles away from where the Darling family lived. Wendy was not used to uniforms, extra classes and school starting at six in the morning and ending at three in the afternoon, since she had been going to a public school before she moved to London. At her old little middle school, she could wear what she wanted, for example, jeans, a shirt, tennis shoes and she was ready to go. Now she had to wear a skirt, and a white blouse, and her hair had to be a certain way otherwise she would be sent home. The extra classes were now an hour and a half instead of the fifty minutes she was used to. Wendy was definitely not a morning person, so when she had to wake up at five, she was never happy. At her old school, school started at seven-thirty. So Wendy could wake up, get ready in about fifteen to twenty minutes and walk a mile down the road to school, which only took two minutes. The afternoon wasn't bad because she was used to getting out at two-forty five and fifteen more minutes didn't much matter to her.  
  
Amanda, however, was loving it. In her opinion the uniforms were cute and she didn't mind the three hour homework that they both had every night. Wendy would usually come home, draw in her sketchbook for an hour until four. Then she would have dinner and by the time she was done with that it would be five-thirty. Then she would go finish her drawings until about seven, and then she would start her homework. Some nights it took her until ten to get done, other nights it lasted until eleven or twelve and Wendy would wake up five hours later with circles under her eyes. Of course Mrs. Darling would scold her for not doing it eariler, but Wendy always tuned her out and never cared. Despite the fact that Wendy was almost a zombie during the week, she had managed to keep her grades steady and fair.  
  
As far as friends go, Wendy had none so far. Which was just fine with her because she liked her space. Although she sometimes wished she had at least one person to correspond with. The first day of school, Amanda made twice as many friends then she had in San Francisco! In the first two hours! Although she would rather *die* than admit it, Wendy was a little jealous of Amanda's growing popularity. Not much, but just some.  
  
The sharing the nursery situation was working out better than Wendy expected. Well, considering the fact that Wendy *always* went to Kensington Gardens to do her homework or to draw on the weekends, she was hardly in there at all except to sleep and dress. Speaking of dress, Mrs. Darling still hadn't given up on Wendy's clothing attire. In fact, it had increased. She now found that Mrs. Darling was criticizing EVERYTHING Wendy did, about once every hour. Which was partly the reason why Wendy was gone so much.  
  
It was about three-ten in the afternoon and Wendy was walking down the neighborhood sidewalk, black backpack slung over her right shoulder over her navy blue winter coat. She was dressed in brown shoes, white knee high socks, plaid green, red and black ruffled skirt that came two inches above her knees and a white blouse. Her hair was twisted into a very tight braid that had to be re-done several times during the day. It was a windy day and she cursed her hair, for it was starting to come undone for the fifth time that day. Amanda skipped ahead of Wendy, wearing the exact same thing only her hair was done into a french braid that had stayed in place all day, and even with the wind blowing, not a single strand was coming loose. Wendy envied everything about her little sister and wished she could look like that.  
  
"Wasn't today just splendid, Wendy?" Amanda asked when she waited for Wendy. She raised and eyebrow.  
  
"Maybe for you. You didn't have to write an english paper, a history paper and do about thirty problems in algebra," Wendy said. Then she looked down. "Why? What gives?" Amanda sighed and a glazed look came into her eyes. Wendy's eyes widened and she started to laugh. "All right, who's the boy?" Wendy asked, stopping Amanda. Amanda blinked and looked up at Wendy.  
  
"Boy? What boy?" she asked innocently. Wendy rolled her eyes.  
  
"You really don't expect me to believe that, now do you? Jillian used to get that exact same look all the time whenever she thought about a boy." Wendy said. Jillian was Wendy's best friend when she had lived in San Francisco. They had known each other since they were six when Wendy moved into Jillian's first grade class. The two had become friends instantly, attached at the hip.  
  
"I'm not thinking about anyone! I don't know what you're talking about." Amanda turned away and crossed her arms over her chest. Wendy grinned and took Amanda's shoulders and gently turned her around. Amanda's eyes went to the ground. Wendy took Amanda's chin and tilted it up so that they were looking into each other's eyes.  
  
"Mandy, please tell me. I know you're not allowed to date until you're fifteen, but tell me and I promise I won't tell mum and dad." Wendy said with gentle compassion. Amanda regarded this for a moment but nodded nonetheless. She sighed.  
  
"I don't know who he is. I saw him last night in our room. I was asleep, but something really shiny kept blinking and I heard bells. So I opened my eyes and I saw a boy hovering over you're bed." Amanda said.  
  
"What do you mean, hovering?" Wendy asked.  
  
"I mean it looked like he was floating in mid-air. He was looking at you strangely and talking to the little light beside him. I gasped and when he saw me, he bolted upwards and hit the ceiling. So I jumped out of bed and before I could get to him, he flew out the window and he was gone." Wendy stood there speechless. This had to be a joke. Amanda had to be fooling her. But Wendy knew that lovesick look all to well and then she knew that Amanda was far from lying. "You do believe me, right Wendy?" Amanda asked hopefully. Wendy nodded and Amanda smiled. Wendy smiled back and the two of them started home again.  
  
A boy sat at the very top of the three that Wendy and Amanda were just underneath. The sun reflected off his wavy, mussed up golden blonde hair, the tips a white blonde. His features were young, roughly around the age of thirteen, and his skin was a nice tan color from some time spent in the afternoon sun. His mouth was twisted into a grin making his small baby blue eyes twinkle with mischief. He wore a strange set of clothing that consisted of nothing but leaves and vines. A dagger sat in the holster on his right hip, the hilt glinting gold in the light.  
  
"So..the smaller one has found me out. Hmmm..this could be a problem. Think it's time we get ourselves a new mother?" The boy asked a small fairy beside him. The fairy girl narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "Come on, Tink. You know we need a new mother for the Lost Boys. We haven't taken anyone into Neverland since Wendy, John and Micheal. Please?" He pleaded. "I already have a girl in mind." Tinkerbell looked puzzled for a minute and when she saw the boy looking after the two girls, her eyes widened and she started to shout at him, which only came out in mad bell sounds and hurried jingling. The boy frowned.  
  
"I am Peter Pan. I can do anything I want to," Peter paused, listening to his fairy shout at him more. "I don't listen to grown-ups, you know that." The tiny fairy continued to scold him, but Peter just brushed her aside and he hopped out of the tree. If any other person had jumped out from that high, they would have surely fallen to their death. But Peter was not like any other person. He was special, full of magic, and so Peter hovered in the air. He turned around and looked at his fairy companion. She was red in the face and her tiny hands were clenched tightly into fists. Peter smiled cockily at her.  
  
"Oh come on, Tink. Think about it. A new mother would do us all some good." Tink gave another angry jangle and Peter looked away sheepishly. "It's not just the boys I can't handle..I'm lonely." Peter said. Tink rolled her eyes, the redness fading from her face, and the two of them flew down the street, being careful not to let anyone see them.  
  
"We're home!" Amanda shouted when she came through the front door. Her and Wendy shrugged off their backpacks and coats and walked into the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Darling sat on the beige three-seater couch in front of a blazing fire. Wendy looked at the jumping flames and couldn't help but think about Jillian's violently mixed red, orange and yellow hair. Jillian was born a honey blonde, but turned a red-orange color after a failed attempt to dye her hair red. She had to live with it for two weeks and was positively humiliated. Wendy smiled at the memory and she suddenly felt very homesick. Mrs. Darling brought her back with her question.  
  
"Wendy, did you hear me?" She asked. Wendy shook her head and gave a very small apologetic smile. "I asked you how school was today."  
  
"Oh it was all right. We just did two papers and some math problems. Nothing special." Wendy shrugged. Mrs. Darling smiled and held her arms out to Wendy. She went to her and when Wendy was close enough, Mrs. Darling took Wendy's small hands into her equally small, but more elegant, hands. She looked into her daughter's eyes, every inch of her face happy. This made Wendy very uncomfortable and VERY suspicious. Her mother had never looked at her this way in about four years, when Wendy was nine. A year before her parents stopped wishing her happy birthday. It had been Christmas morning, and Wendy had opened her last present from Mrs. Darling. Inside was an eighty-page sketchbook, complete with colored pencils, two regular pencils and a black ball point pen. Wendy had started to take an interest in drawing and the light in her eyes was apparent to Mrs. Darling and this made Mrs. Darling smile. That was the last time Wendy had ever seen her mother smile like that..until now.  
  
"Why are you looking at me like that, mum? You're starting to freak me out." Wendy said.  
  
"I'm sorry, dear. I was just thinking how beautiful you're getting. You're growing up to be a gorgeous young woman." Mrs. Darling said. Wendy snorted.  
  
"Really? That's news to me considering the fact that you're always commenting on the fact that I have no makeup and need to use some desperately." Wendy said, glaring coldly at her elder. Mrs. Darling showed no sign of recognition or saying such a thing and continued on.  
  
"You've shown much responsibility these past two years, even though you've never known the word existed until last week." Mrs. Darling said, mumbling the last part so that only Wendy could hear her. Wendy silently agreed with her mother. She hadn't started being responsible until she was enrolled into that academy. The only reason she actually did her homework and wait for Amanda after school and do household chores was because Mrs. Darling had threatened to break all of Wendy's music and rip up all her posters of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Def Leppard and Twisted Sisters. She had also gone as far as to BURN Wendy's favorite pair of jeans, which had a black and pink star patch on the right back pocket and various holes where they held great memories. From then on, Wendy had not missed a beat and got everything done as fast as she could. She hated her mother more than anything in that moment and it was one of the things she would never forget. Of course though Mr. Darling was hardly ever home, so he had no idea what went on between Mrs. Darling and Wendy. Mrs. Darling took a deep breath and moved on.  
  
"I've decided that since you have shown responsibility, I'm going to let you start dating." Wendy's jaw dropped and she gaped at her mother.  
  
"What?! Absolutely not! That's two years beforehand." Mr. Darling shouted, standing up quickly. "What has gotten into you, Wendy?" Mrs. Darling let go of her daughter's hands and stood up to face her husband.  
  
"I think we should just change the rules a little. I think she's old enough to go out on at least a few dates." Mrs. Darling said gently.  
  
"I don't care! We both agreed that both of our daughters would not date until they were fifteen! We made the decision together and I will not go back on my word," Mr. Darling said. "Besides, she doesn't know anyone around here. How can she date anyone when she doesn't know a single boy in the neighborhood? I don't even think I want my oldest daughter *meeting* any of these boys. They all seem like hoodlums and sketchy to me." Wendy was silently rooting for her father. She didn't want to meet any of the boys around the neighborhood either. After all she had just turned thirteen. She wasn't interested in boys..was she? Wendy didn't know yet, but she would when she had met the right one.  
  
"Oh, well we won't have to worry about any of the local boys because I already know a boy who would simply love her." Mrs. Darling said. Wendy narrowed her eyes.  
  
"So that's what this is about? You're going to let me start dating because you know a boy?" Wendy said.  
  
"Not just any boy, but the son of my boss. He says his son, David, is the proper age to start dating. He's only fifteen but I know that you two would get along wonderfully." Mrs. Darling said.  
  
"Oh! Well that changes everything! Of *course* I'll go out with you're boss's son, mother. I would be delighted to. Oh but you'll have to help me pick out something to wear because you know I don't want him to be EMBARRASSED TO BE SEEN WITH ME!" Wendy said sarcastically, but she yelled the last part.  
  
"Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me, young lady! You're going to meet David and you're going to get to know him." Mrs. Darling shouted.  
  
"She will not! I don't care if he's the president of the United State's nephew and he would give you a million dollars if Wendy agreed to meet him. My daughter will not be going out with a boy that *we* have never met, two years before she is required!" Mr. Darling said.  
  
"Oh but I've met him and he's really a very nice young man. He's tall and athletic with blonde hair and brown eyes and eager to take over his father's company. He would make a good husband for Wendy too, now that I think about it. He could lead a wonderful life and Wendy could stay at home and be a stay-at-home mother-" Mrs. Darling said more calmly to Mr. Darling. Wendy, however, looked appalled.  
  
"But I don't want to be a stay-at-home mother! I want to be a fashion designer for rock stars. I don't even know if I want to be a mother." Wendy said.  
  
"Wendy, I am putting my foot down. I will repeat myself one more time. Our daughter is not to meet this David and date him or marry him. Not untill she is fifteen. Do I make myself clear?" Mr. Darling said dangerously calm.  
  
"But, Scott-" Mrs. Darling said.  
  
"No, Wendy don't even try." Mr. Darling said. Mrs. Darling scowled and turned back to Wendy.  
  
"You want to meet him don't you, Wendy? Doesn't he sound nice?" Mrs. Darling said.  
  
"No and frankly I don't want to meet any boys right now. I don't want to meet him because he sounds positively horrid if he wants to grow up and take over his father's company." Wendy said.  
  
"If you don't agree to this I swear I'll-"  
  
"What? You'll do what, mum? If I don't meet him will you get fired? Because if you did get fired I would laugh at you." Wendy said harshly.  
  
"I'll hit you and disown you." Mrs. Darling said. Wendy's eyes widened as did Mr. Darling's and Amanda's. Then Wendy began to chuckle.  
  
"You wouldn't do that. You're just scared that you'll get fired and never find another job. You're so cold hearted that it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't get any more jobs ever again." Wendy said dryly. The next moment, Wendy was on the floor, her hand covering her right cheek where Mrs. Darling had struck her. The mark on Wendy's cheek was growing redder and redder and Wendy's eyes were wide as she stared up at her mother. Mrs. Darling was seething, her whole body shaking and her fists were clenched tightly making them ghastly white. Amanda gasped when Wendy hit the floor and she ran over to her sister, tears springing up in her eyes. Mr. Darling stood there, staring at his wife in disbelief.  
  
"You don't know what you've just done. I was opening some doors for you, a chance to make your life better." Mrs. Darling said, her voice shaking.  
  
"And how was that? By trying to make decisions for me? No, mother! All you're doing is trying to run my life and do everything for me and tell me what to do! I already like my life, but ever since you started to control me I feel like a rag doll! You trying to dress me up and make me something I'm not! I feel like I'm not good enough for you, like you want me to be the perfect little girl that I'm supposed to be! You criticize everything that I do and I'm tired of it!" Wendy shouted, taking her hand away from her face. Her cheek was not red anymore, but was now starting to turn a sickly blue-black color.  
  
"Get out," Mrs. Darling said quietly.  
  
"What?" Wendy asked.  
  
"I said, GET OUT! If that's the way you feel I don't want you in this house anymore!" Mrs. Darling screamed. Wendy narrowed her eyes again and stood up quickly, leaving Amanda on the floor.  
  
"I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU! I'VE ALWAYS HATED YOU! I DON'T CARE IF YOU DIE TOMORROW, I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL!!" Wendy shouted at the top of her lungs, her anger starting to come out after being locked away inside her all those years. Wendy's shout earned another hard smack from Mrs. Darling on her other cheek. Wendy did not fall down but instead turned and ran out of the living room, up the stairs and walked into the nursery, slamming the door hard. Wendy threw herself on her bed, her head buried in her pillow. Angry tears formed in her eyes and she started to cry, hard. She hated her mother, hated her for the way she wanted to run her life, hated her for hitting her and hated her for wanting to disown her.  
  
Wendy had come into the room so fast and started to cry, that she didn't notice the window was open and that Peter Pan was floating just outside, having heard the entire conversation. 


	4. What's Under the Floorboard?

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 4  
  
Author's Notes: Hey guys! I'm back! So sorry that it took forever for me to update, but I really had to pass this six weeks at school, otherwise if I didn't I couldn't go to contest for choir and I really wanted to go. Anyway, this chapter is back to PG, but I will warn you like I did in chapter 3 if it get anything above PG.  
  
Irish Rain: To answer you're question, Wendy's father didn't do anything because I think he was just in shock to see his wife do something like that. As you may recall, he doesn't know of the fights between Mrs. Darling and Wendy and so of course what is he supposed to do? He has never seen his wife act like that in his time that he has known her. So there's the answer to you're question.  
  
Thanks again everyone to all whom have read and reviewed! Please keep them comin' they give me the energy to keep going, so please don't stop! Thanks again!  
  
Peter was seething. He had never been so angry in his life. A muscle twitched in his left cheek and he was squeezing the ledge so tightly, Tinkerbell was afraid that he was going to break it. A million questions were sprinting through his mind. Just what exactly had he heard down there? Why were so many people yelling? But the one that Peter could not get rid of, was: how could a mother be so mean? He couldn't remember much of his childhood, but one thing he knew for certain was that mother's, even his mother, were not cold-hearted. That much he knew of. When he came and took Wendy away with him and when he came back by himself to attempt to keep her there and saw her mother in the rocking chair, he thought she looked like a sleeping angel. He had liked Wendy's mother, but he had wanted to keep Wendy all to himself. Had he been in Neverland so long that he had forgotten what a mother was? After all, Peter did not have one himself, so this was likely. All he knew was that whatever had made this girl cry, he would vow revenge, for Peter hated to see people cry. Reason number one was that it made him a bit uncomfortable and reason number two was that Wendy had cried so often when she was around that he would see images of her that were burned into his brain if he saw someone cry. Oh how he missed Wendy.........sweet Wendy.........beautiful Wendy.........*his* Wendy. Even after she had left, Peter still and would always, call Wendy his.  
  
He sighed and loosened his grip on the ledge and looked on at the sobbing girl with sad eyes. Tink saw this and gave a small, sad jingle. Peter looked at Tink and gave her a friendly smile.  
  
"I'm all right, Tink. I'm just sad is all," Peter said looking back at the girl. "I can't believe that someone.........someone.........I'm at a loss for words." Tink gave a nod and flitted over to him, where she gently kissed him on his nose. Peter went cross-eyed so he could see her better and laughed softly. Tink jangled in her sweet fairy laughter. "Thanks, Tink, I needed that." Tink smiled widely, glad to hear her friend laughing again. In fairy language, she asked him what his plan was to get the girl out. Peter pondered this for a moment, then said,  
  
"Well, I'll just have to come back later on. I mean, I would go in now.........but-"Peter said. Tink stopped him and nodded her head vigorously, meaning that she understood.  
  
You see, Peter wanted to fly in and comfort the distressed girl. Oh how he wanted to. But he could not bring himself to do it. She was hurting, that much he could see. But he was afraid of someone walking in and finding him out, so he stayed put. But what he was most afraid of is actually trying to comfort someone. Oh sure he had done it with Wendy plenty of times, but each time was somewhat different and a bit awkward. He had finally started to get the hang of it when she left. Peter turned around and smiled again to Tink, his sea blue eyes still sad.  
  
"Come on, Tink. Let's go home." Peter said. Tink spoke. Peter frowned. "Of course we're coming back! Do you really think I would leave her there?" He looked offended. Tink shrugged and the pair of them turned around. Peter looked back one last time and saw the girl had stopped crying and instead was sleeping peacefully. Her dark eyelashes brushing her tear- stained cheeks and her thick brown hair cascading down her back in waves. He sighed and vowed to return, no matter what it took. Peter looked back up at the sky and him and Tinkerbell flew off toward the afternoon sun, Tink leaving a trail of shimmering gold and magenta pixie dust behind her.  
  
Wendy opened her eyes slowly to find that she was still in her room, but the world outside was no longer daylight. Instead, the black curtain of the night covered the city of London and more small twinkling stars were splashed over the curtain. Wendy sat up and reached to her right and turned the small knob on her lamp clockwise. Bright yellow light bursted into the room and she winced as the light hit her eyes. She then looked at her digital wall clock above the doorway entrance. It read six-thirty p.m.  
  
Wendy sighed and looked at the end of her bed and saw that sitting upon a green dinner tray was a meal comprised of a bowl of chicken noodle soup, two slices of buttered french bread and a tall glass of orange juice. Next to the bowl was a long silver spoon and under the dinner tray was a small, white piece of paper. Wendy looked at this curiously and crawled to the end of her bed, lifted the try and picked up the note. She could tell that it was written in her father's handwriting before she even began to read it.  
  
'Wendy,  
  
Hello, darling. I hope you had a good rest. I left some dinner for you. I'm sorry it's not much but your mother insisted that we get to the school early for Amanda's play,  
  
Wendy smacked herself in the forehead and groaned. She had forgotten all about the play. For a week straight Amanda had been reminding the family of the upcoming event and when Wendy said that she did not want to go, Amanda kept bugging her, begging and pleading, even as going as far as getting down on her knees, to come. Finally, after seeing sad puppy faces everywhere she went, Wendy gave in and said she would attend. She felt so awful for forgetting, especially since Amanda was taking part in Wendy's favorite play of all time Romeo and Juliet. She sighed and kept reading.  
  
'Listen, about what happened eariler, don't take your mother's words to heart about what she said. She would never throw you out; she loves you too much. I know that may seem hard to believe but it's the truth. She loves you with all of her heart, even if she doesn't show it as often as some. I don't know what will happen when we get home, but please don't worry about that now because we'll figure something out and make everything right again. I promise. Oh, by the way, you *don't* have to meet that boy David if you don't want to. I love you, and I'll see you when we get home.  
  
Love,  
Dad'  
  
Wendy sighed again and set the note on her nightstand. She then got up and walked over to her open window and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned up against the wall.  
  
She couldn't believe it. Was what her father said about her mother true? Did Mrs. Darling truly love her? Wendy knew that she did deep down, very deep down. But if she did, then why was she so horrible at showing it? Wendy didn't know and she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out anytime soon. She unfolded her arms and slid down the wall facing her bed. She pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. She felt miserable, lost and confused at the same time.  
  
Miserable because of her fight with Mrs. Darling about what was said and about the result of what was said. Wendy remembered the two hard hits she had received and gingerly reached up to touch them. Her fingers were barely touching the left cheek when she winced in pain. She went and felt her right one, but that felt just as worse. She had never been hit by anyone in her life, much less her own mother. Wendy knew Mrs. Darling had a temper but not a big enough one to actually strike out and leave marks.  
  
Lost because no matter who entered her life, she always felt empty. There were always so many people around her but something from her life was missing. Like she was incomplete, and that feeling of loneliness filled her and her heart ached for it to go away. Confused because of all of her fights with Mrs. Darling. Did her mother really care for her? Was Mr. Darling just trying to cover it all up so that it might just go away on its own? Wendy shook her head and narrowed her eyes. She wanted to leave. Walk out of this house and never look back. That's what she would do, she would run away. Run away and never return.  
  
So, Wendy stood up and walked over to her closet. She thrust open the door, pulled down a small backpack that she used for traveling and unzipped it. She set it on her bed and went to her dresser, opened the top two drawers and began pulling out random items of clothing. They were thrown into the backpack, not even being folded. Along with the clothes, she put in her hairbrush, a pack of hair ties, three books and a small pillow.  
  
'That looks like enough.' Wendy thought, satisfied. She zipped up her backpack and went back to her dresser to close the drawers when she was suddenly on the floor again. She had tripped over a small hole in the hardwood floor and landed hard on her knees. She bit her lip to keep from crying.  
  
"Dammit, that's the third time this week! Why can't we just get a new floor? This one is so old!" Wendy complained. She sat, indian style, in front of her dresser next to the hole and stared at it. "You bring a curse on my life, you know that?" She said to the hole in the floor. Wendy then suddenly laughed. "Man I really *do* need to get out of here. I'm talking to the floor!" She shook her head and leaned down so that her eye peered down into darkness. "I wonder if there's anything down there. This place is so decrepit is wouldn't surprise me." Wendy came up and stuck her pointer finger down into the hold and pulled. A split second later she heard a loud crack and the whole floorboard lifted free. Wendy gasped as she set the floorboard aside.  
  
Inside was what looked like old buried treasure. Three long steel- bladed swords lay upon an old red hat with a fluffy purple feather attached at the top. A vest that resembled remarkably like Napoleon's lay next to a clear plastic bag with all sorts of jewels and valuables inside. A small pink book rested against the bag, the front and bag torn and ratty. And sticking out of the book on a small silver chain was an acorn with a perfect round hole through it.  
  
Wendy picked up all of these items and set them in a circle around her.  
  
"I wonder where these came from. They all look so wonderful! Hmmm.........now which one to examine first?" She pondered. She decided to look at the ratty pink book. So she picked it up and carefully took out the acorn necklace and clasped it around her neck. The acorn hung delicately in the middle of her chest. She opened the book and on the very first page it had a picture that was drawn on it. She blew off the dust so she could see it better, and what she found was what looked like an island. Green forests, off to the left was indian pillars made of wood and beautiful designs. Blue ocean, on the right were smoky grey rocks with drawings of mermaids sitting on top of them, a huge black rock shaped into a skull veered off to the right a bit more and a ship with sails was in the middle of the ocean. A rainbow was drawn over the whole island, bringing it all together.  
  
And on the very bottom of the page, in bold black letter, next to a drawing of a star and a compass, stood the word NEVERLAND.  
  
AN: I know I'm so evil!! But you'll just have to wait for the next chapter!! 


	5. Stories and Broken Promises

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 5  
  
AN: All right guys here is the much-awaited chapter 5!!! Sorry it took so long.........I don't know when I'll be updating the next chapter so enjoy this while you can. Okay sit back and enjoy!  
  
Wendy was positively speechless. Her eyes grew wider as she began to flip through the pages one by one. On every page was a drawing and underneath it would be a small paragraph describing the picture. She came to a stop on a drawing of a large tree in the middle of a clearing with several different hole sizes around the trunk. At the very top of the tree was a very narrow opening that looked like it slid down into the tree. Wendy studied this for a moment, then began to read the paragraph.  
  
January 16th, 1914  
This is my fourth drawing that I can remember of Neverland. This is the picture of the Lost Boys' hideout. I can picture everything so clearly about the tree, down to where the very last plate was resting on the table. Although it cannot be seen there are three more holes on the other side for each Twin and Nibs. The ones that are in front are for Slightly, Tootles and Curly. And on the very top is-  
  
Wendy's reading was abruptly cut off as her bedroom door burst open and Amanda walked in carrying a small purple ice pack.  
  
"Wendy! You're awake! Daddy said you might need an-"Amanda's eyes went wide, just as Wendy's had, at the sight of the many treasures in front of her. Amanda put the ice pack on Wendy's bed and walked over to Wendy and her discoveries. "What is all this stuff? Where did it come from?" Amanda asked, picking up the swords.*  
  
"I found them under the floorboard by the dresser," Wendy indicated the huge gap in the floor.  
  
"But where did they *come from*?" Amanda asked still amazed. "What I mean is how did they get there? To our floor?" Wendy shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and saw that Amanda was handling the swords. A strong urge and gut feeling came over Wendy that told her that Amanda should not be playing with them. So, she told her so.  
  
"Put them down." Wendy said. Amanda looked up from the swords and blinked.  
  
"What?" Amanda said.  
  
"I said put them down. You shouldn't be playing with those." Wendy said.  
  
"Why not? They don't look so sharp to me." Amanda said, slowly swinging the swords around in the air, as if fighting an invisible person.  
  
"Just do it!" Wendy snapped irritably. Amanda stopped swinging and looked closely at Wendy. When she saw that her sister was serious she gently laid both of the swords down in their original place. Amanda sat on the floor in front of Wendy.  
  
"What's wrong? Why are you angry all of a sudden?" Amanda asked. Wendy sighed, set the book down in her lap and took the little girl's' hands into her own. Wendy's eyes softened and she smiled.  
  
"I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all." Wendy said. Amanda raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I wasn't doing anything that involved me getting hurt. Wendy are you sure you're okay?" Amanda asked. Wendy nodded.  
  
"I'm perfectly fine," Wendy said, although she knew that it was a total lie. She was not perfectly fine and after her hurtful experience she didn't know when she would be. Wendy felt like she shouldn't belong in the world, she wanted to die. Mrs. Darling had tried to change Wendy from who she really was into a mindless, controlled girl with no thoughts of her own, feelings or opinions. After fighting a tough battle for almost three straight years with her mother, Wendy decided to just give up and give in to her mother's demands. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Because the Wendy I know wouldn't have told me to put them away. She would have grabbed one from me and challenged me to a duel." Amanda said. Wendy smiled weakly at the memories of when she would tell such stories involving sword fights against pirates, or robbers, or Arabian knights. And what adventures the two of them would have.  
  
Wendy jumping on her bed while dueling Amanda, who would be on the ground, then jump off and land on the ground and pretend to plunge the sword into Amanda's heart. Of course Amanda would play along and stagger and fall down, playing like she was dead. Then her and Wendy would have a good laugh and start a different story. But that was three years ago and neither of them did that anymore. Wendy silently shook her head, trying to wash the memory away.  
  
"I know but that was a long time ago. I don't have time for such games anymore." Wendy said letting go of Amanda's hands. Amanda stared at Wendy in disbelief. This was not like Wendy at all. Amanda stood up quickly and began to slowly back away.  
  
"You're acting very weird. I can't believe you said that! What about the promise we made? Do you remember? We promised not to let anyone or anything get in the way of our bond. You promised to always protect me and to tell me stories and I promised to write all of our adventures down and publish them. We would write all of our books together and never be apart. We planned to have fun together and to stay young forever and tell the world of our adventures," Tears came to her eyes as no sign of recognition came to Wendy's face. "Please......tell me you remember." Amanda begged desperately, a small single tear escaping and rolling rapidly down her cheek.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mandy. I-I don't remember any of that." Wendy said, and looked away ashamed. But Wendy did remember. She remembered it like it happened yesterday......  
  
Flashback......Three years ago......  
  
"Oh help! Someone please help me!" Amanda pleaded, pretending to be in distress.  
  
"Never fear, beautiful lady! For I will rescue you!" Wendy said in a brave voice. Amanda was sitting on top of Wendy's bed in Wendy's room wearing an old purple sun dress of Wendy's that was much to big for Amanda. The tank top sleeves occasionally slid down her shoulders and she had to keep putting them back. In her hair was a pink rose pin that held up half of her hair.  
  
Wendy was dressed in her father's khaki slacks that would have slipped down to her ankles had she not been wearing a belt. Her mother's old white blouse was worn over a blue tank top of Wendy's. She also wore a baseball catcher's mask from her softball days as a knight's helmet. In her right hand she brandished a wooden sword her father had made specially for her and Amanda to share.  
  
Both of them were acting out their favorite fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, but with Wendy's active imagination, she added a few twists, but nevertheless kept to the original story plot. Amanda was Princess Aurora, but instead of her being asleep she was confined to a room that if she set one foot out of she would die. Wendy was Prince Phillip and was bravely trying to charge her way through evil sorcerers and a cursed wall of roses with razor sharp thorns.  
  
Finally Wendy reached Amanda and how it would normally end was that Prince Phillip would kiss Princess Aurora and end the spell. Of course Wendy and Amanda never did that. Instead Wendy threw of her helmet, picked up Amanda and spun her around until both of them were dizzy. The two of them collapsed onto the Wendy's bed, out of breath but still laughing.  
  
"Wendy?" Amanda asked after a moment of silence.  
  
"Yes, Mandy?" Wendy asked looking up at the ceiling. Amanda propped herself up on her elbows and turned her head to face Wendy.  
  
"What's gonna happen when we get too old for this? Telling stories I mean." Amanda said. Wendy sat up and looked at Amanda incredulously.  
  
"Who says we're going to stop?" Wendy asked.  
  
"Time and having to grow up." Amanda said.  
  
"Well I say phooey on time. No matter how old we may get we'll always find time to tell stories." Wendy said.  
  
"Promise?" Amanda asked, her innocent eyes wide.  
  
"Promise. In fact let's make a pact, right now. Let's promise to travel around the world together and tell the whole world about our adventures." Wendy said, grinning.  
  
"Really?" Amanda asked excitedly.  
  
"Of course! We both can write them down and publish them! How does that sound?" Wendy asked. Amanda leapt up and jumped into her sister's arms.  
  
"Oh, Wendy! That sounds wonderful! Do you promise to always protect me and tell me stories?" Amanda asked. Wendy smiled down at her.  
  
"I promise. And you must promise to find a way to stay young and never, ever leave me no matter what tries to tempt you." Wendy said.  
  
"I'll try my very hardest, Wendy. I promise, of course I promise!" Amanda giggled. Wendy laughed.  
  
"Good. Now, how about another story? Have you ever heard of an eternal boy and about the beautiful island of Neverland?" Wendy asked. Amanda shook her head and Wendy grinned. "All children grow up, except one. His name was Peter Pan........."  
  
End flashback......  
  
Wendy snapped out of her revere. She looked at Amanda and saw that tears were still flowing down her cheeks. Wendy hated to see Amanda hurt, physically and emotionally, and wanted to scream at her that she hadn't forgotten, that she would still keep her end of the bargain. But something kept her from doing so and she hated it. She instead threw the book aside, stood up, and walked swiftly to the distressed child. Wendy took Amanda into her arms and soothed the girl by stroking her hair. Amanda wept onto Wendy's shoulder. The two remained like that for a long time before Wendy heard a sniff issue from Amanda, signaling that she had stopped crying. Wendy detached herself and held Amanda back. Her eyes were red but not puffy, and Wendy wiped the tearstains from Amanda's cheeks.  
  
"There now, you're all right. Everything is going to be okay, you'll see." Wendy reassured comfortingly. Amanda shook her head.  
  
"No it won't. You've completely forgotten our bond and you forgot how to tell stories. You've changed, Wendy." Amanda said.  
  
"No I haven't. What makes you say that?" Wendy asked. Amanda narrowed her eyes and glared at Wendy.  
  
"I may be nine years old but I'm not stupid. I know about the fights that go on between you and mum and I think you were really brave for standing up to her earlier." Amanda said. Wendy froze her face paling.  
  
"How do you know about the fights?" Wendy asked.  
  
"All those times you thought I was asleep, or thought I was out of the room and couldn't hear you I was listening to you two yell at each other throwing insults back and forth. You didn't deserve to be hit today just for speaking your mind and being your own person. Like I said, I think you were brave for finally standing your ground." Amanda said, revealing the truth.  
  
"Listen, Mandy, no matter what goes on between me and mum I have not changed, all right? I will never change because of that woman, do you understand?" Wendy asked. Of course this was another lie. She didn't want to hurt Amanda anymore than she had to so she kept away from the truth. Amanda nodded and they hugged. Wendy sighed and smiled. "Well, it is true that I have forgotten our bond," She said and walked over to where the book was, bent down and picked it up and showed it to Amanda. "But how could you ever think that I forgot how to tell stories?" She grinned and walked back to Amanda and they sat on Wendy's bed. Amanda looked at the book with curiosity.  
  
"What's that?" she asked.  
  
"Well, I'm not real sure yet. But do you remember the story I made up?" Wendy asked.  
  
"You mean the one about Neverland?" Amanda asked and Wendy nodded.  
  
"This is one of the things that I found under the floorboard. Mandy, I think Neverland is a real place and our great-grandmother Wendy just proved it to be." Wendy said excitedly.  
  
"How? Neverland can't be real. It's made up.........isn't it?" Amanda asked.  
  
"I think that this was Wendy's journal and she wrote in it when she came home. I mean look! There are even drawings and writings to go with them. Here look at this one." Wendy said flipping to a page and handing it to Amanda.  
  
The drawing was actually was two drawings scaled down to fit on one page. On the left half was a beautiful beach with hundreds of rocks with green moss growing on them. The ocean was a brilliant shade of aquamarine and sapphire blue and in the water were mermaids. Some were playing in the ocean, others were lying upon the huge rocks or the sandy shore soaking up the rays of the sun. These weren't the mermaids most people thought of, with different colored fins and hair. They were beautiful, yes, but each fin looked the same and each hair color was exactly as the other's. Black. All were black. The bold letters underneath the drawing said MERMAID LAGOON.  
  
On the right hand side was what looked to be a camp. Teepees as white as snow were proudly standing around a large campfire pit. At the entrance to the camp were two totem poles on each side with woodcarvings shaped into animal heads. Grey, charcoal smoke billowed up from the empty fire pit and underneath that picture were the bold words of THE INDIAN CAMP.  
  
Amanda stared at these for a while, occasionally grazing her fingertips lightly over them to get a feel for the pastels that were used. Then she read the paragraph below the two drawings out loud.  
  
March 25th, 1914  
I know it has been a while since my last entry, but I have been so busy with my schooling and helping mother around the house. Plus taking care of the Lost Boys and Michael and John. They are my brothers after all. I must treat them as any loving sister would. Even if they do still call me 'mother.' Along with all of that, I draw in here and that also takes a while. My memories of Neverland, I am sad to say, are fading. However I have just enough left to remember these drawings. The one on the left is the Mermaid Lagoon and the one on the right is the Indian Camp grounds. Mermaid Lagoon is where Peter took me to see if Hook had captured my brothers, Michael and John. While Peter was asking, one of them tried to pull me in and drown me! Thankfully, Peter stopped them just in time. I don't think I will ever look at mermaids with the same admiration I had before going to Neverland. The Indian Camp grounds is where Tiger Lily lives. Her father is the chief of the Indians. Big fellow with a warm laugh. I went to give him a hug one time while I was there and he almost squeezed the life out of me! I guess he didn't realize the size difference between us. Tiger Lily and Peter laughed when I was trying to get air back into my lungs. Oh I am afraid that mother is calling me, so I must be going.  
  
Love, Wendy  
  
Amanda and Wendy read on into the night about their great- grandmother's adventures in Neverland, about her duel to the death with the pirates, being captured by Hook, and falling in love with Peter Pan. And as they read, neither of them noticed the boy Peter Pan himself hovering just outside the window, listening eagerly to it all with Tinkerbell sitting on his bronze shoulder.  
  
AN: Sooooo.........what did ya think? Great, good, not so good, awful? I have a feeling that there is going to be too much crying in this story. Lol. I mean because I've already started writing chapter six in my notebook and Mrs. Darling cries too.........I won't tell you why, though. You'll just have to wait until it's up. I know some of you are probably frustrated about Peter not going to save Wendy.........but I promise that something will happen in chapter six.........again I'm not going to tell you what. That's just the way my mind and evil plots work. Muhahaha!! *clears throat* Anyway, please review, your encouragement really does help me write faster. Oh and about the little * symbol next to the word 'swords', in chapter 4 I replaced the wooden swords with steel-bladed swords and so I replaced it. So if any of you are on the author alert watch list, I'm sorry if I got you're hopes up! Lol. But here is the real deal! 


	6. Rememberings, Swordfights and Pixie Dust

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 6  
  
Author's Notes: Hey everyone! I'm back! YAY!! Okay at the start of this chapter are Mr. and Mrs. Darling when they first come home from Amanda's play. You know, instead of picking up where Amanda and Wendy left off with the stories. I just wanted to clarify that, since I didn't know if some would be confused about it in the story. Anyway, I'm going to shut up and let you get on with the reading. Shout outs at the bottom to all who reviewed the last chapter!!  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Mrs. Wendy Darling stood in front of the coffeepot dunking three Earl Grey tea bags in and out of the boiling water. Her face was expressionless and her eyes seemed distant, almost in a glazed over sort of state while the only part of her body moving was her hand. Mr. Scott Darling sat at the small round kitchen table that resided directly in the middle of the kitchen. His chin rested in the palm of his hand as he stared at his wife, watching her make the tea.  
  
None of them said a word to each other since they came home. Both were in their own whirlwind of thoughts. *What to make for dinner?* *I wonder if Wendy would let me paint the ceiling in the living room.* *We need a new kitchen table* But most of these were Mr. Darling's thoughts as Mrs. Darling didn't look like she could think on her own.  
  
As Mr. Darling was caught up in his "deep" thinking, Mrs. Darling's hand moved up and down slowly and she glanced at it every so often, glanced at her other hand that rested upon the marble counter, and after a long while of doing this she finally stopped and just stared at the hand moving the tea bags. Memories of the previous hours came back to her in a flood and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach remembering how she had used that hand to harm her oldest daughter. Mrs. Darling was not the type to hurt another human being much less her own flesh and blood. After she had carried out that horrible act, she had fallen to the floor dazed and utterly disgusted with herself. Wendy was her *daughter* for God's sake! In all her years of having children she would never have imagined, never dreamed, never one thought of hitting her own little ones. Her kin.  
  
Mrs. Darling's hands shook ever so slightly as she took out the tea bags, reached for the pot, and started to pour tea into one of the two mugs on the counter next to her. When she began to fill up the second mug, her slightly shaking hands grew to shaking so violently that the tea began to spill over the lip of the mug. Mr. Darling noticed this, stood up at once and rushed to her and pried his wife's trembling hands from the handle of the coffeepot. Mr. Darling placed the pot back on its stand and as he turned back to Mrs. Darling, she all of a sudden collapsed in her husband's embrace. She started to sob, her entire body shaking and Mr. Darling, startled at her sudden outburst, guided her head to lay upon his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. Mrs. Darling continued to sob and Mr. Darling stroked her hair in a loving way and tried to calm her down.  
  
"Wendy, what's wrong?" Mr. Darling asked calmly. Mrs. Darling sniffed, brought her head up from his shoulder and looked into his eyes. Her eyes, though, were red with tears and had a small river of mascara running down her cheeks.  
  
"Scott, tell me the truth and please be honest," Mrs. Darling said weakly. Mr. Darling chuckled under his breath.  
  
"What is it, darling?" He asked. Mrs. Darling took a deep breath and plunged on.  
  
"Am I a bad mother?" Mr. Darling's eyes went wide and he started to laugh. Apparently Mrs. Darling did not like this so she exited from her husband's arms and put her hands on her hips, a stern look crossing her face.  
  
"I'm being serious, Scott!" She said. Mr. Darling stopped laughing and walked up to her and wiped the mascara stains from her cheeks.  
  
"Of course you're not. What ever gave you that idea?"  
  
"Because of what happened earlier with Wendy. I feel horrible." Mrs. Darling said miserably.  
  
"Darling, you were just angry is all. All parents get frustrated with their children once in a while." Mr. Darling said. Mrs. Darling shook her head slowly.  
  
"No, Scott. You didn't see the fear in her eyes after I hit her the first or hear the utter hatred in her voice when she yelled at me. It was a little scary. I was afraid of myself for doing something like that. I mean, in all the years that we've been together you know me better than anyone. Have I ever been capable of physically harming another?" Mrs. Darling asked seriously. Mr. Darling regarded his wife thoughtfully and finally shook his head. "Exactly! See what I mean? I'm not fit to be a mother. I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call social services. I don't know what I would do if they took my children away." Mr. Darling took Mrs. Darling by the shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes.  
  
"Honey, we are not going to loose our children. It was just a silly little spat and I'm sure Wendy doesn't think any less of you. You are such a kind and caring woman and you are a wonderful mother. Okay? Now do you believe me?" Mr. Darling asked. The couple stood like that just as they were, his strong hands clutching at her tiny, slender arms, looking each other in the eyes.  
  
"I still don't know, Scott," Mrs. Darling said. "Maybe we should just go and see if-"she was about to step away from Mr. Darling's grasp when he held her back.  
  
"Wendy, we just got home. Give her some time to think." He said gently.  
  
"Think? Scott, she's had two hours to think!" Mr. Darling shook his head.  
  
"When I went to bring Wendy her dinner she was dead asleep. I sent Amanda with an ice pack for her bruises," Mrs. Darling winced slightly at the mention of the bruises. "When Wendy wants to talk she'll come down. Like I said, giver her some time. She'll come around." Mr. Darling released his wife's arms and kissed her gently on the forehead and went to the counter to mop up the rest of the tea, leaving Mrs. Darling to do nothing but sit and wait.  
  
But Wendy never did come down to talk. She never even came out of her room. Her and Amanda were too busy playing and Wendy was having too much fun to care about her mother.  
  
It was now the precise time of ten-thirty at night and Wendy was snuggled deep in the comforts of her bed. Amanda slept soundly in the bed beside Wendy, the little girls' rhythmic breathing a comforting sound to the older girl. Small gusts of the chilly January wind blew into the bedroom from the still open window, but Wendy didn't mind. She loved the cold. It gave her an excuse to be outside all the time, exploring the park or running off the her secret tree in Kensington Gardens when she lied to her mother that she was just taking walks around the block.  
  
Wendy smiled in the darkness. The night of swordfights and dastardly deeds and rescuings went rather well. Her great-grandmother's journal was full of imaginative and colorful adventures. As Wendy recreated the entry where her great-grandmother Wendy was captured and tied to the mast of the Jolly Roger, she could almost picture her ancestor's face, brave and unafraid while she stared down the venomous Captain James Hook and his devious band of pirates. When great-grandmother Wendy and Peter Pan danced under the stars to the melodious music and twinkling magic of the fairies, Wendy imagined herself doing the same thing one day.  
  
Wendy's radiant smile disappeared and she sighed. She knew good and well that Peter was real. She did not think twice when Amanda asked. But if Wendy was so sure he was real why hasn't he come to her window and taken her to Neverland yet? Wendy imagined that her great-grandmother's daughter went to Neverland, and her daughter and even her own mother went to Neverland. When was it going to be her turn? When would she be able to spread her arms and soar above the clouds and play in the jungle and taunt Captain Hook? When would it be her chance to have a grand adventure like all of her lucky ancestors?  
  
Wendy closed her eyes and bright turquoise skies and sparkling oceans with tan sandy shores and dense green forests instantly came to her mind. She imagined herself running along the beach, picking up speed with each step she took. On her last burst of speed she kicked off from the ground, letting the wind carry her up. She spread her arms out wide beside her like a bird and dipped in and out, over and under of bouncy, fluffy white clouds with silver linings. The wind whipped in her face and her hair was blowing wildly around her shoulders. The air smelled sweet; like various mixes of fruit and roses and honey.  
  
It took a while of dreaming her carefree life in and above Neverland before Wendy drifted away into a peaceful slumber.  
  
As soon as Wendy was in dreamland and that last little light in the house was shut off for the night, a quite large shadow flew silently into the room landing gracefully on the stained wooden floor. The shadow tiptoed around the narrow hole in the floor and the wood panel that attaches to it. It didn't, however, catch the trunk that was at the end of Wendy's bed and a loud THUMP was issued. The shadow flew up into the air immediately and at the same time a ball of sparkle hurtled into the room and lit up the shadow's face. It was Peter! He had an agitated look on his face and was holding his foot, trying to baby his big right toe. A small jingle came from the ball and Peter nodded.  
  
"I'm all right, Tink. I just hurt my toe on that stupid box," Peter whispered and motioned toward the trunk. Tinkerbell just shook her head and brandished her fist at the trunk and using very colorful language, coming out in shrill bell sounds. Peter quickly caught the angry fairy and cupped her in his hands, forgetting about his hurt toe, and the jangling stopped. Amanda turned over in her sleep and Wendy moved her hand up to her face and sighed. Peter let Tinkerbell go and put a finger to his lips. "Hush, Tink or you'll wake them."  
  
Peter glided over to hover above Amanda's bed. He looked at her thoughtfully.  
  
Now was she the girl I saw crying earlier? Peter thought. He noted how Amanda's hair was lighter than the girl he saw before and was smaller, more fragile. He shook his head and moved on to hover over Wendy's bed. Peter knew then that this was the girl he had seen looking so miserable. Peter smiled and then frowned and flew lower so that his face was level with hers. She looked......familiar. But from where? Peter was sure he had seen her before. Her features, her pale skin color so delicate and white it was like a porcelain doll. The color of her wavy hair, chestnut brown that gave off a cinnamon aroma. The way her black as night eyelashes rested against her cheeks.  
  
Peter looked over her face and saw out of the corner of his eye a silver chain. He picked up the chain from around her neck and saw the small brown acorn with a perfect hole right in the center. Now his mind was reeling. This was a Neverland acorn. How did she get that? Then his mind triggered. It was Wendy! Wendy with her loving and gentle ways, Wendy with her smile that could light up a room, Wendy with her red lips that once touched his so long ago......  
  
By this time Peter was ecstatic. He found Wendy! He found the girl he loved. But why hadn't she aged? Didn't she say she was going to grow up? He knew that by growing up you got old. Captain Hook was proof of that. But her face was free of wrinkles and old age spots, not a gray streak in her hair to be seen. She still looked like a little girl, his age ready to have a grand adventure. Peter smiled mischievously and flew away from her face and sat Indian style on the top of the trunk. Her brought out his panpipes and when Tink looked at him curiously he just winked.  
  
The music was soothing, like a lullaby. Not the fast and upbeat music he normally played to signal his return. He kept his eyes open, watching Wendy and playing his panpipes at the same time. He was about halfway into his performance when Wendy stirred. Peter kept playing when she opened her eyes, sat up and mechanically reached to her left and turned on the bedside lamp. Wendy gasped when she saw Peter, but he just smiled while he kept on playing. She watched him with great interest, his mouth moving over the different notes as they emitted beautiful sounds. He finally stopped and Wendy jumped and clapped with joy, her smile lighting up her face and eyes. Peter noted how her eyes sparked up when she was happy, just how his Wendy used to.  
  
"That was positively beautiful! Where did you learn to play?" Wendy asked. She even sounded like his Wendy! Peter smiled and shrugged.  
  
"Around," He said. He flew up into the air and he heard Wendy gasp again.  
  
"You can fly! How can you fly?" Wendy asked. This was odd. Surely Wendy herself would know to combine pixie dust and happy thoughts to fly. Had she forgotten that easily? This was possible because it had been a long time since she flew. Peter's smile grew and he flew around the room with ease doing somersaults in the air and making Wendy laugh and clap. She got out of her bed and came around to stand in front of her bed, looking up at Peter.  
  
"My name is Wendy Darling. What's yours?" Wendy asked. Peter came down and landed in front of Wendy. The last time Peter saw his Wendy she was dressed in a white cotton nightgown with long sleeves. But this Wendy was in a long green shirt that went just past her knees with a picture of four men on it and at the top it had a heading that said The Beatles. It had sleeves that stopped halfway on her arms.  
  
"You really don't remember me? I thought you said you'd never forget me." Peter said a little hurt. Wendy's eyes widened.  
  
"You're Peter Pan aren't you?" Wendy asked. Peter whooped with joy and flew up and did another somersault in the air. He came back down and grabbed her hands a huge smile on his face.  
  
"So you do remember me! This is great, Wendy! I can't believe you're still young though. I thought you were going to grow up." Peter said. Wendy looked at him strangely.  
  
"I'm not the Wendy you think I am, Peter." She said. Peter laughed.  
  
"Of course you are! You look like my Wendy and you sound like my Wendy so you must be......well my Wendy!" Peter said. Wendy shook her head sadly and Peter's smile vanished.  
  
"No, the Wendy you're thinking of must be my great-grandmother. That's the Wendy you remember." She said. Peter let go of her hands and took hold of the acorn necklace again.  
  
"But you have my kiss. If you're not my Wendy then how did you get my kiss?" Peter demanded, starting to get a little angry. Wendy motioned over to the hole in the floorboard.  
  
"I found it in with those things. Go look for yourself, you might remember some of them." Wendy offered. Peter walked over to the floorboard and got down on one knee and started at the pile of objects. The first thing he saw were the steel bladed swords. He picked them up and examined them, a smile coming to his face obviously remembering when he and his Wendy dueled pirates on the deck of the Jolly Roger. He saw the hat with the purple feather next and picked it up and put it on. Wendy giggled a bit in the background. Peter stood up with the two swords in his hands, turned around and tossed a sword to Wendy. She caught it by the hilt and stared at Peter.  
  
"If you're related to my Wendy then you must know a thing or two about swordfighting. Come on, show me what you got." Peter challenged. Wendy's eyes widened.  
  
"You want me to duel you? Now? But I don't know if-"  
  
"What's wrong? Are you afraid you're gonna loose?" Peter smirked and Wendy frowned then grinned.  
  
"Okay, Peter Pan I'll challenge you. Be prepared because it is you who are going to loose." Wendy said. Peter cocked an eyebrow and heard Wendy say one, two, three and the two of them circled each other.  
  
Peter lunged first, trying to stab Wendy in the shoulder. Wendy blocked it with ease, thanks to much practice with Amanda in the old days. Wendy cut at Peter and the two began to dance around each other again. The two then went into battle; clangs and clashes of the blades rang out into the silent room. They fought like this until Peter flew up and over Wendy; she turned and grazed his shoulder making the leaves on his outfit fall to the ground. Tinkerbell covered her eyes and cowered on a shelf of the bookcase that was in the far corner of the room. Peter looked at the tiny pile of leaves on the ground and cocked an eyebrow up at Wendy. She smirked triumphantly and thought she had won when Peter suddenly attacked.  
  
He and Wendy fought and walked around the room a dozen times, Wendy almost falling over Amanda's bed and getting her foot caught in the hole of the floorboard. Wendy was getting so into it that she suddenly threw her sword down on the floor, the sword coming to a loud clatter and punched Peter in the jaw. This was so unexpected that Peter dropped his sword and winced in pain and Wendy grabbed his hands, twisted his arms around like they were to be put into handcuffs and thrusted his body, stomach side down, to the floor. She held his hands behind his back and she was breathing hard like she had just run a marathon. Peter twisted his head around and looked at her.  
  
"Okay so I guess you are related to my Wendy," Peter said. Wendy laughed and Peter struggled to get out of her grip. "You can let me up now."  
  
"Nope not until you say that I beat you at swordfighting. That I beat the famous Peter Pan at the one thing he's actually good at." Wendy said.  
  
"I refuse to say anything- hey! I'm good at other things besides just swordfighting." Peter said indignantly. Wendy snorted and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah? Like what?"  
  
"Like- like......I can hold my breath underwater," Peter said.  
  
"Oh wow big deal. Anyone can do that." Wendy said sarcastically.  
  
"For six minutes?" Peter asked. Wendy thought for a minute and shook her head. She sighed impatiently.  
  
"Fine, here get up. But I still won." Wendy said stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest. Peter smiled. He liked this Wendy. She wasn't like any of the other girls he had met or brought with him to Neverland. She was stubborn like him and just as brave as he was. He grabbed her hand and started to drag her to the open window. Tinkerbell saw this and flew up and over, ready to be at service with the pixie dust. The only thing is is that Wendy pulled her hand free and stood still.  
  
"Peter, what are you doing?" Wendy asked.  
  
"Taking you to Neverland of course! You're a brilliant swordsman and you could teach some of my Lost to fight and be their mother," Peter said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Neverland! This is my chance, Wendy thought. This is finally my chance to get to have one of my own adventures to tell! She smiled and offered her hand to Peter's. He smiled in return and they walked the rest of the way to the window. The next act Wendy did she admits she never should have done.  
  
Wendy looked back to have one last glance at her room, at her old life that she was about to leave behind forever. Never to come back. She planned to peek through the windows once in a while to see how her family was doing, but she never planned what would happen next. As her eyes were roaming around the room, they landed on Amanda's sleeping form. Sweet and smart Amanda, her sister who Wendy loved dearly. A pang hit Wendy's heart and she felt like it was going to rip to pieces.  
  
How could she be so selfish? How could she just leave Amanda in this cold and unfair world while she, Wendy, got to go off and have the grandest time? Wendy promised Amanda that no matter what, if either one of them got a chance to go to Neverland that neither would go without the other. It did not matter if they were on the other side of town, sleeping, awake, or on the other side of the world, they would find a way to go together. And Wendy was leaving and breaking yet another promise to her little sister. She knew she just couldn't leave her, but deep down Wendy thought that neither one would get to go to Neverland. And now that the chance had actually arrived......well Wendy didn't know if it would be safe for Amanda. Wendy turned to Peter with sad eyes.  
  
"Can you give me just one minute? I-I have to say goodbye to my sister." Wendy said. Peter looked solemn, like he understood what Wendy was going through, and nodded. Wendy walked over to Amanda's bedside where she was still asleep. Her white blonde hair feel over her beautiful face, her pink lips slightly parted. Wendy chuckled. It always amazed her that no matter what was going on, Amanda could sleep through *anything*.  
  
"Hey, Mandy. I know you can't hear me but I just wanted to say goodbye. I know we promised to go to Neverland together, but......God I hate breaking promises. It's just that I feel like I don't belong here. I'm sure Mum hates me right now, I have no friends at school and I've only gotten one letter from Jillian since we've been here and-and I just want to get out of this place. I'm tired of this old and bedraggled world, I don't want to grow up. I don't know what I want to do with my life! I-I don't want to get old and die and having accomplished nothing in my life," Wendy said softly. She saw Amanda's eyes flutter in her sleep and decided to hurry because she didn't know if she could bear leaving Amanda if she was awake. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'll miss you and that I will never, ever forget you. I'll come and visit you every major holiday. That is if I can tell time in Neverland, which I'm sure I can't, but I'll do my best. I love you Amanda Darling and you'll always be my one and only true sister." Wendy came to the end of her speech, bent down, and kissed Amanda delicately on the forehead. She turned away and picked up her bag filled with her clothes, put it on her shoulders and walked back to Peter with her head held high. She was determined no to cry in front of him even though she wanted to desperately.  
  
"Are you ready?" Peter asked quietly. Peter heard the whole speech when Wendy was trying to make it soft and he felt bad for Wendy. But him and his Lost needed a mother and Wendy was the only person that would be fit to be one. Wendy nodded and Tinkerbell sprinkled her with her glimmering pixie dust. The dust engulfed her and she thought of leaving the "real world" and getting to go to Neverland, playing in the water, hanging around in hammocks in the high canopy trees and swordfighting with pirates. She immediately lifted up into the air and butterflies rushed to her stomach. Wendy and Peter smiled at each other and joined hands, Tinkerbell rolling her eyes in the background.  
  
"This is the best feeling in the world. I can't believe I'm actually hovering in the air and I'm not being pulled down by gravity! This is awesome!" Wendy said with joy.  
  
"Yeah but just wait until we actually fly. That feeling is even better," Peter said.  
  
"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning right?" Wendy asked. Peter smiled at how much she knew about Neverland.  
  
"Right! Off to Neverland!" Peter said and him and Wendy and Tinkerbell took off out the open window. As they flew by, Peter caught a glimpse of Amanda and saw that she was awake! Uh oh......that was not good. He briefly saw her looking at him and Wendy and Tink with angry tears running down her flushed cheeks. As the three of them flew higher and higher into the sky, Peter was already formulating a plan in his head for a certain special little someone.  
  
AN: Long chapter this time! I think you guys deserved it. Finally Wendy meets Peter! Mind you from this sentence: It took a while of dreaming her carefree life in and above Neverland before Wendy drifted away into a peaceful slumber. And on down......ALL of that was made up! I usually write it down and then type it and change whatever I think needs to be changed......no all that was made up! I think I did a pretty damn good job too. Lol. Anyway SHOUT OUTS to the people who reviewed chapter 5: Serenity7, Sofia/3sh, catbus, KelKelgirl, Surfer-Gurl, electricxrain and LegallyRed. Electricxrain and LegallyRed my two best reviewers......thanks you two! You are wonderful and thanks for all you're support. Thanks to everyone who has read my story so far. At the end of the story I'll thank everyone who has reviewed all chapters. Stay tuned for chapter 7 and I hope you liked this one!  
  
~Dreamless_Mermaid~ 


	7. The Joys of Flying

Peter Pan  
By: Dreamless_Mermaid  
Chapter 7  
  
A.N: Chapter 7! Finally! SHOUT OUTS AT BOTTOM TO ALL WHO REVIEWED THE LAST CHAPTER!!  
  
Peter, Wendy and Tinkerbell flew higher and higher into the stardusted night sky. As they ascended into the heavens, Wendy continually performed flips and somersaults as Peter had done in her room. She even mimicked like she was swimming, doing the frog kick stroke. Peter laughed at that and did the same thing beside her. Tink flew a few paces behind them, eyeing Wendy carefully.  
  
Right away when she saw this new Wendy, Tink knew she was not the same one as Peter had loved. And still did. After hie Wendy left Neverland and taken all of the Lost Boys with her, Tink began to see dramatic changes in Peter. He had quit eating all together, he would not speak to anyone just daze off into space, and every night before he retired to his hammock he would fly to a rock by Mermaid Lagoon and sit and look at the stars.  
  
Now that Peter had found a new Wendy, Tink wanted to be wary of her every move. Even if Peter looked at this new girl the same way he used to with the old one, Tink still wanted to best for him. What if this girl was to break his heart as her relative had? Tinkerbell would not stand for it if she did.  
  
Now the two flying teenagers were soaring high amongst the clouds, zipping in and out of the puffs. Wendy saw a flock of cranes gliding by in a pack and she flew up next to one of them. She had always watched them from her window when it was time for them to fly south. To her they were these graceful, flawless creatures that were often taken for granted. Now that she was actually seeing one up close, gazing at its brilliant plumage and its movements, it was positively amazing.  
  
Peter flew so that he was floating on Wendy's back and he gripped her waist. She glanced at his hands on her waist and she looked up at him. He just smiled at her reassuringly and in the next second they rocketed toward the ground. Wendy shrieked and was about to cover her eyes with her hands when Peter unclasped his right hand to take hers away from her face. He bent down and whispered huskily, almost seductively into her ear,  
  
"Don't you dare close your eyes," Wendy gasped and did as she was told and Peter grinned as they came ever closer to the hard ground. At the very last second, Peter steered himself and Wendy out of harm's way and he let her waist go but immediately clutched her hand. Wendy laughed with joy and relief and closed her eyes this time, letting the cool breeze whip in her face.  
  
Peter swooped low and skimmed the surface of a lake with the tips of his fingers. Wendy did the same on her side. Peter smirked evilly and turned and splashed water on Wendy's face. She gasped with disbelief but quickly recovered as she was soon splashing him back.  
  
"Hey, you can't do that!" Peter laughed.  
  
"Says who?" Wendy questioned.  
  
"Says me, that's who!"  
  
"And why not, oh great and mighty one?" Wendy asked sarcastically. Peter cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"Because I said so," Wendy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Great reason," she muttered under her breath, even though Peter heard it but ignored it. She splashed him some more.  
  
Up ahead of them was a heard of wild horses, galloping freely in a field. Wendy unclasped her hand and sped away and up to a gorgeous brown and white horse. She flew up next to it while it was still galloping and reached out to pet its head. The horse neighed from Wendy's gentle touch and she leaned down and whispered in its ear,  
  
"Every turn's a surprise. Not that I'm complaining," Wendy giggled, petted the horse once more and flew directly upward. She joined hands with Peter again and he looked at her closely. She looked happy. So happy she'd be fit to burst: Her cheeks were a rosy pink, flushed with excitement. Her hair was windblown and tousled from the harsh weather she had just flown through. Her crystal blue eyes literally were like diamonds, sparkling with anticipation, wanting more. If it was one thing Wendy did not look it was sad and depressed. Peter loved to make people happy and with Wendy he had succeeded in doing so. That was his goal and he had reached it with satisfaction. If she was happy, Peter would definitely feel the same way.  
  
Peter bowed to her in a gentleman fashion. "Well, milady. Shall we?" Wendy giggled. She has the best laugh, Peter thought.  
  
"After you, good sir," Wendy said and she tried to do a curtsey but failed miserably. Instead she bowed as Peter had done and he laughed. Tink jangled irritably up above them and Peter tightened his grips on her hands.  
  
"You better hold on tight, Wendy. It's going to be a bumpy ride." He said and Wendy nodded. The two of them looked up and they raced to the stars, led by Tink, going higher and higher until a cloud obscured them from view. When it passed, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and Wendy Darling were gone from the midnight sky.  
  
Amanda sat wide-awake in her bed; fists clenched tight, jaw clamped shut and eyes red with anger. She was pissed, to put it simply. If someone were seeing this in a cartoon version, one would think that her ears would begin to smoke steam and her head would explode.  
  
"Why? Why did she leave me? She promised..." Amanda whispered fiercely. During the middle of Wendy's leaving speech, Amanda had awoken but never opened her eyes. When she heard Wendy's voice and the words "Neverland", "leaving", "I'm sorry" and "goodbye", she knew Peter Pan had come and Wendy was going back with him.  
  
Amanda threw off her covers, got out of bed, stormed over to the small pink diary that was on Wendy's bedside table, picked it up and threw it hard across the room. It soared in the air and hit the opposite wall that was next to the window with a SMACK. She whimpered like a lost little puppy and sank to her knees and cried. She sobbed and sniffed and hollered until she felt like her body was drained because she had never cried so much in her life.  
  
When would the lies stop? Why couldn't Wendy just suck it up, face the truth and quit lying all the time? Amanda never, for one second, believed the fib Wendy had told when she said she had forgotten their bond agreement. It didn't matter what big sister said anymore, Amanda knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. The way her eyes darted back and forth and the way she kept fidgeting with her fingers practically shouted, "I'm lying! Look at me, the little two-faced liar!" Of course she never noticed when it was apparent to everyone else. Wendy was never a very good actress when it came to such a thing called lying and Amanda suspected she never would be.  
  
The door to the bedroom opened with a creak and in shuffled little Mrs. Darling. Seeing her distressed youngest daughter in a heap on the floor, she pushed the door open further and ran to Amanda. The girl instantly latched on to her mother like her life depended on it and she began to cry again, but only a little. Mrs. Darling lifted Amanda's chin so that they were looking each other square in the eyes.  
  
"Amanda, dearest what's wrong? Why are you out of bed?" Mrs. Darling asked calmly. The reason why she was up at this late hour was because she kept hearing continuous clanging noises...like swords.... When they stopped she fell silently back asleep but was awoken again by another noise. It was loud and sounded like a THUMP. So, seeing as how she did not like being awoken twice in one night and needed her "beauty sleep", she decided to investigate, leaving her husband snoring peacefully. Lucky.  
  
"Mum, Wendy's gone and it's all my fault!" Amanda wailed. What in the world was she talking about? Wendy wasn't gone; she was right there sleeping. Mrs. Darling looked down confused at Amanda.  
  
"Mandy, what-?" she looked toward Wendy's bed where the girl would usually be snuggled deep under the covers. But all she saw were blue pillows and a large dark green comforter pulled back. Mrs. Darling scrambled up and scurried over to the bed. Her face paled and she backed away slowly. "Scott...." She began to call. "Scott, get in here! SCOTT!" she yelled and she ran out of the nursery and back into her room. She shook her husband and he rolled over.  
  
"Huh? Hwh-what's going on?" he asked groggily.  
  
"Wendy's missing," Mrs. Darling said, standing over him. Mr. Darling sat bolt up right, fully awake.  
  
"WHAT?! What do you mean "missing"?" Mr. Darling yelled.  
  
"I mean she's gone, someone took out daughter! Oh, Scott what are we going to do?" Mrs. Darling stood back to let Mr. Darling out of bed. He did not answer her as he walked to the nursery only to find Amanda still on the floor. He knelt down next to her like Mrs. Darling did and put a comforting arm around her.  
  
"Amanda, honey where's your sister?" Mr. Darling asked gently. She sniffed but did not look up as she had with her mother.  
  
"She went somewhere. Somewhere far away," Amanda said.  
  
"Like where?" Mr. Darling asked.  
  
"She went with a boy," Amanda heard her mother gasp and this time she did look up. "Oh but he didn't take her against her will, Mum. She went on her own."  
  
"On her own?" Mr. Darling repeated. "But what kind of a kidnapper does that? Just let them decide to be kidnapped,"  
  
"She wasn't kidnapped!" Amanda shouted desperately. She stood up and walked over to the window and looked out of it. She sighed. "She went with Peter Pan to Neverland." Mr. Darling turned and looked at his wife.  
  
"Wasn't Neverland...?" He pointed at her and she looked nervous.  
  
"I'm calling the police," Mrs. Darling said, completely ignoring Mr. Darling's question. She walked out of the room again and down the hallway where she picked up the white cordless phone and dialed 9-1-1. "Yes, London police please," she waited patiently to be put through.  
  
Meanwhile, Mr. Darling stood up slowly and walked over to Amanda, who was still at the window. She had her arms crossed and her face screwed up looking like she was about to cry again, but seemed to be holding it back. He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Why didn't you come to get us before? We could have stopped all of this," Mr. Darling said.  
  
"How was I supposed to know what was happening? I was asleep. I don't blame her for leaving, either," Amanda muttered.  
  
"What do you mean?" Amanda turned to look at her father.  
  
"Couldn't you see she was miserable here? No friends, no one to hang out with her own age, and with mum constantly screeching at her it's a wonder she hasn't left sooner! You say you love Wendy, and I know you do, but you were always too busy with work or other things to even see that she was hurting," Amanda said. Mr. Darling looked shocked at this. Of course he paid attention to Wendy! She was his little girl, his pride and joy. His heart! He could never ignore her. Could he?  
  
"Mandy, this doesn't make sense. You know I would never do anything like that to her. Or you. Is that what this is about? Are you jealous?" Mr. Darling asked. Amanda laughed.  
  
"Me? Jealous? Over Wendy?! Dad, she was jealous of *me*. You never saw the look on her face whenever I got something and she didn't? You've never noticed how she always used to give me little side glares every time she would pass by me?" Mr. Darling shook his head. "Of course you didn't. Because you weren't around to see it. Any of it. I always felt bad, even if I did show that I was enjoying it. I always got all the attention, it was me, me, me. Never about Wendy, you and mum left her out to dry. Every time she had a birthday where were you? Where was mum? Every single special moment that went on in her life you ignored it and gave all the attention to me. Well I don't want it anymore. I'm sick and tired of being the good little girl, the evil sister. Next time you need to be out on a "business job", which you probably don't even get in the first place, think about what's best for your family instead of what's best for yourself."  
  
And with that, Amanda pulled away from Mr. Darling, walked out of the room quietly, past Mrs. Darling, who did not notice because she was still on the phone with the police, and down the stairs where she resided in the living room for the rest of the night.  
  
A/N: Yay! Chapter update! Hope you guys liked it. Amanda is getting tough, no? If you didn't notice when Peter and Wendy were flying, I put in some "Aladdin" references. If you missed them go back and find them. Go, go now I command you! Lol. I put those in there because me and my friend Kathy (LegallyRed) were in an "Aladdin" mode and I decided to put it in because......I dunno it just kinda fits, I think. Besides that I told her I would put them in. There you go, Kathy!  
  
SHOUT OUTS!: Aladdin's one true love (a.k.a Kathy), Sofia/3sh, KelKelgirl and Genoa  
  
A word to the wise, people. If you want to be on my shout out list you know what you gots to do. LEAVE ME A REVIEW!! If you do I will put you on the list. Promise. Okay guys see ya in chapter 8!  
  
~Dreamless_Mermaid~ 


	8. An Almost Thimble

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 8  
  
AN: I tried to get this out as fast as possible. I hope this was fast enough. Lol. SHOUT OUTS AT THE BOTTOM!!  
  
A squat, chubby looking man stood nervously in front of a dark hardwood desk. He was fidgeting with his red cotton hat in his hands, ringing it out like a wet rag. The little man was dressed in a large baggy white shirt with pure blue stripes and loose brown shorts. He was bald except for a scrape of white fuzz on both sides of his head and he had small, beady little eyes with round, silver-rimmed glasses.  
  
Another person sat in a huge, blood red Victorian chair with intricate designs sewn into the cushions. This person was examining a very old piece of parchment that was yellowed, ripped and torn around the edges. A magnifying glass was at its eye that was very close to the paper. The magnifying glass was roving around curiously like a metal detector, looking for anything valuable.  
  
"Smee, why can't I find anything on this blasted map?" the person said, its voice low.  
  
"W-well that's p-p-probably because things have ch-changed so much since you've been away, sir. Everything is somehow brighter than it normally w-was and things have moved around a bit so the map h-h-has obviously rearranged itself," Smee pointed to the traces where tiny little black footprints had once been. "See there, sir. That's where Tinkerbell almost gave away Pan's hideout."  
  
The man gave Smee a curious look. A frown crossed his face like he was trying to remember something but just could not seem to grab it. "Who are these people, Smee?" Smee's eyes widened.  
  
"D-d-don't tell me you've forgotten all about Tinkerbell! She's Peter Pan's faithful and devoted fairy. But you remember Peter Pan of course," Smee said matter-of-factly. The man still looked puzzled and Smee's jaw dropped. "YOU DON'T REMEMBER P-PETER PAN?! Blimey, I'd have figured that's the one thing you definitely would not have forgotten."  
  
The man sighed impatiently and put his head in his hands. "Just get on with it, Smee."  
  
"Peter Pan is our number one enemy. He used to call you codfish, he'd come around and get you all ruffled up and you hated him with a burning passion. D-do you remember now, sir?" Smee asked hopefully. The man stopped to think then shook his head and Smee's head drooped. He couldn't believe it. His one and only role model's memories had vanished, simply disappeared without a trace. How had this happened? What was once the brilliant genius now had to be re-taught everything.  
  
"I want to learn, Smee. It sounds like I was one bad pirate. Tell me more." The man said. Smee grinned wickedly, pulled his hat back on over his bald head and rubbed his hands together.  
  
"With pleasure, captain. With pleasure......"  
  
Wendy didn't know how long it took to get to Neverland. All she knew was that it seemed to take hours and hours on end, shooting through the galaxy with the stars winking their hellos to her and Peter. In all actuality it took approximately one minute to travel through space and come upon the brilliant and lush island that was Neverland. Wendy could see the tops of pine color green trees and as she floated lazily in the air she spotted a brilliant and fiery sunset. Reds, oranges and yellows were mixed together to create a breathtaking picture that anyone could ever imagine.  
  
Peter nudged Wendy in the side and jerked his thumb toward the ocean.  
  
"See that, Wendy? That's the Jolly Roger. Hook's old pirate ship," He said. Wendy looked at it with awe and was amazed that she was actually getting to see this up close. She secretly hoped that there were still some pirates lurking about just so she could say that she got to fight one. "Over there is Mermaid Lagoon," Peter next pointed to a small cove with four huge boulders protruding from the surface of the water. There were currently no mermaids in sight, which was a good thing because of all of the bad news Wendy had read about. "That's the Black Castle over there. That's where-"  
  
"You and my grandmother rescued her brothers, Michael and John and the Princess, Tigerlily," Wendy interrupted. "I know." Peter smiled and was now really impressed by how well she knew Neverland. Wendy did not see him smile because she was flying fast ahead of him. Peter caught up with her easily and he took her wrist. Wendy let him lead them into the midst of the trees, dodging the branches and canopies and finally landed on the ground in front of a titanic tree. Once her eyes focused and adjusted to her surroundings, Wendy's eyes widened and she gasped. Peter was positively beaming.  
  
"Welcome," said Peter. "to the Home Underground." Wendy looked at the tree in amazement, with its six holes and one hole at the very top.  
  
"It's just like I imagined. Everyone's hole is where it should be," Wendy walked to the tree and patted its bark gently. She couldn't believe that she was standing before a tree that has been here practically since time began. It was as old as she was. As old as her great-grandmother even! A piece if history was standing before her and now Wendy, too would be apart of it. "Let's go inside."  
  
Peter nodded and flew up, as did Wendy and he led the two of them to his hole at the very top and they slid down with ease. Once they were inside she looked around again. A long wooden table sat in the middle of the room with three squat stools on one side and another set of three on the other. An actual chair resided at the head of the table, decorated with feathers and crowns and pearl necklaces.  
  
Wendy looked to the walls and found what appeared to be a dent but was actually a small cubby hole. Straw and a gray blanket and fluffy pillow lay in the hole. Next to the cubby hole were two white stringed hammocks, hanging side by side. Two pillows and two gray blankets each rested in them. Behind Wendy on the other far wall were two separate twin cots, both also with pillows and blankets. There was a door, well it wasn't really a door because it was more like a cow hide and bear skin hanging in front of the doorway, behind the chair that was at the table. Everything seemed to be perfectly neat, organized, and well put together. Oh how very naïve Wendy was. Peter saw her looking at the "door" and said,  
  
"That's my room. No one is allowed in there unless I send for them or I give them permission." Peter said importantly and put his hands on his hips.  
  
"Whose beds are these?" Wendy asked.  
  
"My Lost." Peter said simply.  
  
"Your what?" Wendy asked and she turned to him.  
  
"My Lost Boys......well not really boys anymore," Peter saw Wendy was very confused but he just laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'll introduce you to them tomorrow."  
  
"Where are they now?" Wendy asked.  
  
"Are you always this nosy?" Peter teased. Wendy bit her lower lip and blushed crimson.  
  
"I'm sorry but I just can't help myself. You don't understand how long I've been waiting to come here." Wendy said.  
  
"You mean you always knew I would come for you someday?" Peter asked. He took a step closer to her. Wendy nodded.  
  
"Yes. As you might know I used to tell stories of you to my sister," Wendy thought about Amanda back home but she pushed that aside fiercely. "Then when I found my grandmother's journal I knew you and Neverland were real. I figured since I was related to her that you would eventually show up." Wendy explained.  
  
"Oh," was all Peter could say. He took yet again another step towards Wendy. They were now so close to each other that she could smell the wind in his hair, mint on his breath and cinnamon (probably from when he held her when they were flying over London) on his skin. She looked up into his eyes and was caught by the drowning pools of the lightest of blues she had ever seen. Green specks were sprinkled here and there but Peter's eyes were definitely blue. Wendy couldn't help it, she was being sucked in by his charms.  
  
She saw Peter slowly lower his head and his eyes flutter close. Wendy's heartbeat began to pick up speed and his lips came ever closer to her own. Did she want this? Wendy didn't really know Peter all that well and she wanted her first kiss to be as magical as possible. Isn't that what all girls wanted? Besides she was too confused and hurt to think about anything like that now. She couldn't like Peter now when she just met him. So why did it feel like her stomach was loose with a billion butterflies and doing flips as if she were in the air again?  
  
Before Wendy could really go into her thinking she pulled away quickly from Peter and turned her back on him. Peter stumbled forward but regained his balance and played it off like it never happened. Wendy sighed inwardly and looked straight ahead, determined not to turn back and face him.  
  
"Where will I be sleeping?" she asked in a soft voice. Peter thought her behavior of what just happened odd. No girl could ever resist his boyish charms or say no to a thimble. He was loveable in so many ways even he couldn't think of them all! So why was Wendy ignoring him? He wanted to thimble her but she didn't want it. Why? Maybe he had come off to quickly and scared her. Yes, that must be the reason. Peter was now determined to be more careful around his Wendy.  
  
"Um- well I really wasn't expecting any company. So until I fit you a proper hole and a bed to yourself you may have my room and I will sleep out here on the floor," Peter said scratching the back of his head. This time Wendy turned to look at him but carefully avoided his gaze.  
  
"Peter, I could never take your room! I shall sleep on the floor." Wendy volunteered.  
  
"No you can have it. It's okay, I insist." Peter said. Wendy now looked him in the eye and he looked back at her.  
  
"Are you sure?" Wendy asked tentatively. Peter nodded and smiled a little. Wendy grinned sweetly and walked up to him and gave him a very small and shy peck on the cheek.  
  
"Always such a gentleman." Wendy whispered, laughed a little under her breath, walked away from him and opened the "door" and let it fall back in to place. As soon as she was gone Peter practically smiled from ear to ear, jumped up and out of his hole at the top of the tree and soared freely over Neverland. He whooped, laughed and cheered as he let the cool evening breeze hit his face. Peter was positive Wendy loved him now and he felt like he could laugh and cheer forever. Things were finally turning out the way he hoped.  
  
Amanda awoke early the next morning to the sounds of coffee being ground up in the coffee maker. The loud grinding noise had disturbed her dreaming more than once and so she decided that instead of fighting it to just get up. She reached for the two couch pillows that she had been using and put one in each hand and rammed them onto her ears. She was attempting to block out the noise but it was failing miserably so she threw them on the floor, got up from the couch and stormed into the kitchen and found Mrs. Darling at the kitchen counter.  
  
"MUST you do that at," Amanda turned her attention to the blue rimmed wall clock on her left. "seven-thirty in the morning? Do you realize it's a Saturday and that I could be sleeping in?" Amanda put a hand on her hip and tapped her foot on the floor. She was not a morning person at all. One morning Wendy had to literally drag Amanda by her feet out of the bed in order to get ready for school. Thinking of Wendy brought back memories that she was off having a grand adventure and so she shook her head a little and shooed it away. Mrs. Darling's mouth was forming into a smile and she stopped grinding the coffee beans.  
  
Amanda sighed and rolled her eyes and stormed out of the kitchen. Mrs. Darling was doing the procedures of making the coffee and she stood over the pot watching it steam and bubble and muttering to herself, "Five. . .four. . .three. . .two. . .one. . ." And sure enough just as she said "one" Amanda walked calmly back in and sat down at the table.  
  
"I can't get back to sleep," Amanda said tonelessly. "Thank you for officially ruining my morning, mum. I really appreciate it." Mrs. Darling snickered.  
  
"Anytime," Amanda made a face behind her mother's back. "You know you're beginning to sound a lot like your sister. Haughty, sarcastic, rude. . ." Amanda put her hand, palm up, on the side of her face and leaned into it sleepily.  
  
"I really don't care to talk about Wendy right now, if you don't mind. I'm still trying to get over the fact that she left me here." Amanda said bitterly. Mrs. Darling poured herself a cup of black steaming coffee and joined her youngest daughter at the table.  
  
"Why does it matter? Why are you so mad?" Mrs. Darling asked blowing on the surface of her coffee.  
  
"Because. . .because it just does. You wouldn't understand." Amanda said averting her gaze to the table top.  
  
"Maybe not. But I do know what's it's like to be left out of things. Every time I wanted to play with my brothers they would never let me. They made the excuse that I was too young or too girly for the certain game. You don't know how mad that made me! I was always left out of games when I was in-"Mrs. Darling suddenly stopped and covered her mouth with the lip of her mug. But Amanda was caught with interest.  
  
"When you were in what, mum?" Amanda asked curiously. Mrs. Darling's eyes darted around and she slurped her coffee loudly.  
  
"Oh it's no big deal really. Anyway, the point is, is that I know what it feels like to be excluded from things. If they don't pick you then that's okay. The world isn't going to end and life does go on." Mrs. Darling said. They sat for a while pondering, lost in their own thoughts. Amanda never asked for her mother to elaborate further in what she was in. She had suspicions but would not voice them out loud.  
  
"So what happened with the police last night? On the phone?" Amanda asked. Mrs. Darling sighed.  
  
"They reported it as a kidnapping even though I repeatedly told them it wasn't. They kept asking me loads of questions but I was still in shock about Wendy being gone that I couldn't really catch some of them," Mrs. Darling recalled the events of last night. She looked suspiciously at Amanda. "I thought you didn't want to talk about Wendy."  
  
"I don't! Well. . .maybe a little. But don't expect me to start crying or freak out or anything because I won't!" she said defensively. Amanda got up and walked quickly out of the kitchen. Mrs. Darling smiled after Amanda's retreating form and knew that she missed Wendy. Even if she wouldn't admit it.  
  
Amanda bounced up the stairs, sometimes taking two at a time, and walked into her room. Wendy's bed was still messy from the night before, as no one had the heart to make it again. Mr. and Mrs. Darling were confident that she would return home safe and sound and would have to just pull the covers back anyway. That there was no use making it because by the time they did she would already be in it, sleeping. Amanda sighed and walked and bent to retrieve the small pink book that she threw into the corner. She went back to her bed, sat down on the neatly made up covers and flipped it open to the first page. From there she began to read out loud to herself, in the same place Wendy started.  
  
Thinking it was another story to tell to his Lost back home, Peter floated eagerly outside the window listening, enraptured by the tale. . .waiting for nightfall when it would finally be her turn. . .  
  
A/N: I know I'm evil. halo appears above head then suddenly change into devil horns But that's just me! :P This one was a bit longer since my friend complained chapter 7 was too short. 

Anyway, SHOUT OUTS!! Yes the famous list. A lot of you reviewed. . .that's good. Now keep it up! Lol. LegallyRed (of course! My #1 fan. Love ya, Kathy! Sorry there's no Aladdin), In the Depp End, morningtime2, Sofia/3sh, AngelicPirate, Zorrina, boogalaga, Devil's Little Sister, ANNE( v )79 and electricxrain (My #2 fan!) 

Thank you guys so, so much for sticking with me this far. I know I don't update a lot but at least I do, unlike some authors that take longer than me! Anyway, thanks for being so freakin' awesome and see you in chapter 9! 

DreamlessMermaid 


	9. The Lost

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 9  
(Special thanks to my friend and Beta Reader LegallyRed!)  
  
AN: All right, I feel really guilty right now and really stupid. I forgot to put in a disclaimer! Ugh! I can't believe it! Anyway, Peter Pan does not belong to me but to the brilliant mind of the writer Sir J. M. Barrie. I only own Amanda and Wendy. . .well not really Wendy, just the girl who plays her, not the name. Plus other characters that come up later in the story. Anyway, enjoy the read! More shout outs at the bottom!  
  
Wendy drifted in and out of sleep her first night in Neverland. She would fall asleep for a while, then wake up thirty minutes later. Every time she woke she would look around as if she were lost, only coming to realize that it was not a dream anymore. Neverland was real and she was right in the middle of it. She finally fell asleep comfortably at around four in the morning (if time could be told in Neverland, that is). She dreamed of seducing mermaids, glittering fairies and a boy with tousled blonde hair and penetrating blue-green eyes who leaned in and gently and tentatively touched her lips with his . . .  
  
As she dreamed this, Wendy was unaware of the pitter-patter of two sets of footsteps sneaking into the bedroom. The feather bed made no movement as the sounds stopped and crawled on either side of the dreaming girl. Wendy rolled over so that she was on her back, her eyes moving behind her closed lids to show that she was dreaming. The pitter-patter footsteps were now poking Wendy gently. She groaned in her sleep and opened her eyes to find two sets of crystal clear, almost diamond, blue eyes staring curiously into her own.  
  
Wendy gasped and sat up quickly which threw the two footsteps that were now identified as children off of the bed. The children screamed and they shot out of the room like a bullet, their scream echoing through the tree. Wendy got up to follow them and as she came out of the bedroom she saw the two children latched on to both of Peter's legs.  
  
"Whoa, whoa guys what's the matter?" Peter asked startled at this sudden outburst. The two children pointed at Wendy.  
  
"Who is she?" the first one said.  
  
"And what was she doing in your room?" the other asked. Peter looked up to find a frazzled Wendy and smiled apologetically. Peter bent down and tried to pry off the children from his legs, as they were cutting off his blood circulation, but find that they would not let go. They were attached like leeches.  
  
"Um, well this is Wendy. She is going to be our new mother," Peter said gesturing toward her. Wendy's eyes widened, as she had not heard this part of the agreement, and Peter gave her an I'll-explain-later, look. "Wendy, on my left leg here is Fidget and on my right leg is Midget." The kids Fidget and Midget were identical twins, both looking to be about five years old. And what beautiful twins they were! Midget was the girl and she had shimmering, short black hair that was twisted into two braids and cut off directly at her shoulders. Her small, round crystal eyes watched Wendy suspiciously, almost mistrustfully. She wore an old, long, dark blue short- sleeved nightshirt that reached to her knees and a pink flower bracelet was wrapped around her upper right arm.  
  
Fidget was the boy and also had shining black hair, but kept his short. His small, also round crystal eyes, were watching Wendy with curiosity. He wore brown baggy shorts with a black shirt that had leaves intertwined like the pattern of Peter's leaves. The kids were both barefoot and from what Wendy could tell they both had American accents. Wendy walked up to them and bent down on one knee in front of them but this only made Fidget and Midget clutch tighter to Peter. Peter flinched and made a face and his legs were starting to look awfully red. He gave Wendy a 'help me!' look and she swallowed her giggles.  
  
"It's very nice you to meet you. I am very happy to be here and I can't wait to, um, be your mother. Why don't you come with me and we can get to know each other a little better?" Wendy asked and she held out her hands. Fidget and Midget glanced at each other and reluctantly released Peter from their grips and took Wendy's hands. Peter breathed a sigh of relief and his legs were now turning back to his normal skin color.  
  
Wendy led the twins over to the wooden table and she sat them down on the little benches while she took the huge chair. This was usually Peter's chair and he, and only he, was allowed to sit in it. But he didn't mind one but if Wendy sat in it. Just as Wendy started to strike a conversation with the twins, yells and shouts echoed again throughout the tree and four more children flew in through their appropriate holes. Peter laughed and walked in front of the table.  
  
"Lost, fall in!" Peter called. Fidget and Midget scrambled up from their seats and went to join the other children as they formed a line. "Roll call!"  
  
"Trinity, checking in!" a young girl, who looked to be around Wendy's age, called and saluted. She had shoulder blade length black hair and a half bun rested on her head. She had small apple green eyes, rimmed with green. She wore long, blue denim, bellbottom jeans with ripped holes in both knees and a green shirt with two handmade bracelets on her wrists. She sounded like she had an accent between British and Irish.  
  
"Fox, checking in!" a young man who also looked to be Wendy's age called and saluted Peter. He had shocking, electric red hair with bold brown eyes complete with sprinkles of freckles on his nose and cheeks. He wore a pair of old, ratty blue jeans with a dagger hilt sticking out of the right pocket and a plain white T-shirt. He also had an American accent.  
  
"Shyla, checking in, sir." a little girl who looked about nine said. She did not salute but gave a little wave to show she was present. She had long, wavy blonde hair that came to the middle of her back and almond shaped, stormy gray eyes. She wore a long gray nightshirt that had puffy short sleeves. She had a French accent, or so Wendy guessed because she could hardly hear the little girl.  
  
"Squeaks, reporting, sir!" a little boy of age seven piped up. He did salute Peter and smiled. He had short blonde and honey hair with wide, chocolate brown eyes. Atop his head he wore an old brown paperboy hat, and his only clothes consisted of ratty gray shorts down to the knees. He wore no shirt and he seemed to have a New York accent.  
  
"Midget-"  
  
"And Fidget-"  
  
"Reporting for duty, sir!" the twins finished together with grins and salutes apiece. All of the children were barefoot, each complete with dirt and grim. Wendy winced a little, for she had always been a clean sort of person. None of the kids, with the exception of the twins, had noticed Wendy's presence yet and hoped it would stay that way for a while. But she gave up wishing because she knew she would have to introduce herself sometime. Well . . . her wish would soon be granted because in the next moment Midget, now seeming to trust her, rushed to Wendy and pulled her up and toward the rest of the Lost and Peter. The Losts' smiled disappeared replaced by curious looks. Wendy laughed nervously and waved hesitantly.  
  
"Lost, this is Wendy. She's to be our mother! I want all of you to give her as much respect as you would me and be nice to her. This is her first time in Neverland and I want her stay to be as comfortable as possible. Is that clear?" Peter said, crossing his arms over his chest. All of the Lost smiled and saluted Peter once again and chorused together,  
  
"Yes, sir!" All of them except for the young girl named Trinity.

"Mandy, are you in here?" Mr. Darling's voice floated through the bedroom door. He walked in to find Amanda on the floor looking through odd little trinkets. A hat, two iron swords, an assortment of jewels, valuables and many other things. It looked to be as if she were putting them away. Amanda did not look up as her father sat down next to her.  
  
"I'm putting these away because they remind me of her. We, or actually she, found them before she left and have been left out ever since. I can't stand to look at them anymore," Amanda explained to Mr. Darling. She gazed at the swords, remembering when she first took the hilt in her hand. It had been cold, but quickly warmed to her body heat and she found it rather peaceful. The little pink book was still lying on her bed.  
  
"She will come back, Mandy. You know that right?" Mr. Darling asked. Amanda put the last of the treasures back inside the floor and fitted the floorboard back into its original place. She sighed and looked up at her father.  
  
"How do you know? What if she never comes back and we never see her again?"  
  
"I feel it, right here," and Mr. Darling pointed to his chest where his heart was. "She'll return. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday she will come back and we'll all be a family again." Amanda looked at him with sad eyes and felt tears starting to form, but held them back desperately.  
  
"You say so, but I think it is your biggest pretend," Amanda said and stood up, fists clenched at her sides. She shut her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. "We can't go back to the way we were, dad. No matter how hard we try, everything will always be the same. Even if Wendy does come back she will never forgive mum for what she did. You know it and I know it and there's no use in trying to deny that. I must tell you, that if Peter Pan comes for me then I will not hesitate to go with him. I will never come back, I will never look back . . . but I will never forget. I can't lead this life anymore, dad. I'm sorry." Amanda explained quite calmly and quietly. Father and daughter stayed silent for several seconds when finally Mr. Darling said,  
  
"You say so, dear, but I think that is your biggest pretend." And with that, Mr. Darling stood and walked out of the room with his head held high. He shut the door silently behind him with a click of the lock. Finally, Amanda couldn't take it anymore. She ran to the window, threw it open and collapsed on the floor in a heap. She cried and cried and sometimes called for Wendy, like her big sister was still there in the room with her and would come over to comfort Amanda. But there was no one there, she was alone, and it pained her.  
  
"Peter . . . Wendy . . .please don't leave me . . . please . . ." Amanda whispered. She sobbed and wished, wished with her whole heart that she might be rescued somehow. A few minutes later, her cries subsided and she drifted off to sleep with her head on her arms on the windowsill.

Night had fallen quickly again over Neverland, and Wendy found herself in front of a warm and cozy fire. Bright orange flames reached up gracefully and danced among the other colors, tiny golden sparks jumping up and out of the fire. The day had been a rather busy one as she had been getting to know her new Lost children. She found out that all of the kids had not fallen out of their prams when the nurses weren't looking, but had been rescued from one form of danger to the next.  
  
Fidget and Midget, the identical boy and girl twins, originally lived with their parents and grandmother in Montana on a huge farm ranch back in 1940. A horrible accident occurred that struck the parents dead when the twins were three years old and had to live with their grandmother. She had been a drunk and abused the children horribly, leaving them with purple eyes or bloody noses. The twins had run away on their fifth birthday, hiking into the mountains where Peter happened to come upon them and take them to Neverland. Of course the twins being as young as they were didn't remember exact details but remembered enough to tell their life story.  
  
Squeaks was from New York and lived his life being a Newsie (his slang for it, which simply meant 'Newspaper boy') for 'The World'. His father died in a factory accident and his mother had been so devastated she became ill. Squeaks had two younger sisters to look after and with his mother ill and his sisters to young to work, he was the man of the house and from the time he was five years old to his current seven year old status, he worked. He brought in very little money, but it was enough to manage. Then one night a fire broke out through the apartment and the building was engulfed in flames. Squeaks got out as quickly as possible but soon realized that with his mother ill she could not walk properly and his sisters were probably scared out of the wits. By the time the fire department arrived, the flames had consumed the house and everyone in the building, except for Squeaks, died that night. He ran to the farthest place from the building he once called home when he stumbled upon Peter. This was in the year of 1925, twenty-six years after the Newsie strike against Pulitzer and Hearst.  
  
Shyla, now there was an interesting little girl. Having a French accent, her English was good but not perfect. She was a shy thing and she was rescued in 1935. Her mother, who thought that she was too young to carry the responsibilities of a child, abandoned Shyla at birth. Shyla was found by a middle aged, sour faced couple who ran the local whore house. They raised her by themselves without giving the child any education whatsoever. She grew up around prostitutes and hookers and learned the ways of seducing men. Even if the women of the house were slutty, they were kind and gentle to Shyla while the managers were mean and cold hearted. And so at the age of eight, the managers, the ones who had found Shyla, had instructed the girl that it was time to go into the family business. The women of the house were outraged and absolutely disgusted at the thought of an eight year old girl selling herself to the slim buckets that called themselves men. But it was insisted because they needed the money and the couple were just mean like that. So Shyla had been out on five jobs making considerable amounts of money when she had had enough. Peter found her when she was making a wish at the wishing well in town that she would be rescued by something, she did not care what it was. Shyla was the very first girl in Neverland to be considered a Lost Boy. That was when Peter changed it to Lost.  
  
Fox was from California and went with Peter in 1955. Fox moved around a lot when he was younger because his father was in the military and it required them to move from place to place. Fox had never known his mother or his other family members and he had no younger or older siblings to look after. He suspected that his mother and his other family were dead, and so it had always been Fox and his father on the road together. The last time Fox had ever seen his father was when he was standing on the sidewalk in front of his house with their neighbors at his side, waving goodbye to his father in an army truck. He was going off to war in another country and Fox was staying with the neighbors until he came home. Two weeks had passed before a soldier came to the door and handed Fox a letter that said that his father had been killed in battle. This was when he was only six years old. He left that night and roamed around the streets, homeless, refusing help from anyone. When he turned thirteen he had been caught for stealing food from a local store and that's when Peter decided he needed saving.  
  
Trinity . . . now there was the oddest girl Wendy had ever seen. She hardly spoke to Wendy at all and Peter ended up having to tell Trinity's life story. Trinity was the newest Lost, having been rescued in 1976. Her mother and father were sent to jail after committing gruesome murders that occurred around Ireland. After the hanging of her parents, Trinity went with her new foster parents and life was no better there. At school she was looked down on because of the crimes her mother and father had committed. She was always getting into fights and skipping school or talking back to her foster parents. One night, her foster mother, having gotten considerably drunk, decided to abuse Trinity while her foster father was away at work. Trinity hit her back and left her with two black eyes, a cut on her lip and several bruises. Scared of what the police might do, Trinity ran and ran until she found that Peter was following her.  
  
Shyla was dozing peacefully in Wendy lap and Squeaks had his head on her leg, also sleeping. Peter sat next to Wendy with Midget in his arms while Trinity, Fox and Fidget were curled up together. All were sleeping except for Peter and Wendy.  
  
"I can't believe the hardships these children had to go through. How awful experiences it must have been for them." Wendy whispered.  
  
"It was terrible, Wendy. You should have seen them all when I told them I was taking them back with me. Their faces lit up like fairy lights!" Peter whispered. Wendy and Peter laughed softly and Wendy stared at the darling faces of her kids. A thought struck Wendy at that moment and she turned back to Peter.  
  
"Peter, you never did explain to me the reason why you told the twins I was to be their mother when you never even mentioned it while we were back in London." Wendy whispered.  
  
"The Lost needed a mother, as all children do, but they were beginning to get a little rowdy and none of them would pay attention to me. Plus since the boys have a father figure in their life, me, I figured that the girls would need a mother figure, you. You don't mind do toy?" Peter asked hopefully. Wendy sighed and looked at the Lost again and smiled. How could she ever turn this down?  
  
"I'm just a little miffed that you had to lie to me to get me to come with you but other than that I don't mind at all." Wendy said.  
  
"Wendy, I didn't trick you and bring you here because of that. Well . . . mostly that, but I also wanted you to come with me. Even if you weren't going to be our mother, but a Lost I would still want you here anyway." Peter said. Wendy glanced up at him, careful to not look him in the eye like she had last time. Wendy blushed.  
  
"Thank you, Peter. That's very sweet," Wendy yawned and, carefully removing Squeaks' head from her leg, stood up while cradling Shyla in her arms. "I think it's time for these guys to go to bed. Fox and the rest can stay on the floor, I haven't the heart to wake them." Wendy put Shyla is her respective bed and covered her cozily with the blanket. Peter did the same to Midget in her bed.  
  
"Goodnight, Wendy." Peter said.  
  
"Goodnight, Peter." Wendy said. Peter did something in the next moment that was not expected. He walked up to her and quickly kissed her on the cheek and in the next moment he was gone. Wendy smiled and felt her cheek where the kiss had been and walked in to Peter's room.  
  
Peter flew over Neverland once again, with his trusty fairy sidekick Tinkerbell, and departed to London, where he found Amanda sleeping by the window.  
  
AN: Yay! Chapter 9! Woot! Lol. I hope everyone liked the Lost and their stories of how they were rescued. Most of their names came from inspiration. I just took it and ran with it. Muhahaha! And if you can't tell by now, Trinity is jealous of Wendy and doesn't like her very much. Dun, dun duuun! Oh yeah by the way. The line where Amanda says, "You say so, but I think it is your biggest pretend" is not mine. I did not make it up because it came from the 2003 movie. When Mr. Darling says the same thing, that's kind of relating to the movie too, even if I added like a word. My point is, I DON'T OWN ANY OF IT! Okay . . . shout outs!  
  
Sofia/3sh, Surfer-Gurl, electricxrain, Zorrina, Pirate, boogalaga, elkalili, AngelicPirate, thugalet, LegallyRed and ANNE( v )79  
  
Thanks guys! You don't know how much it means to have awesome reviews from you! Please keep it up!


	10. Surprise!

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 10  
  
AN: Wow I think I wrote this pretty fast. By surprisingly I wrote it while listening to my 'Newsies' cd. Yeah, I got the soundtrack!! It's awesome! Go buy it if you love the movie. I've been listening to it all weekend. Anyway, about Squeaks and his story about the Newsies, I didn't make that up. My beta reader LegallyRed did. So if you loved it, give your compliments to her. But, everything else I did make up. She just wrote that part about the Newsies. That doesn't mean I don't like it, I love 'Newsies', and I just wanted everyone to know that. Ok now I'm rambling. SHOUT OUTS at the bottom as usual. Enjoy!  
  
"There she is, Tink," Peter pointed to the sleeping girl that was Amanda. Tink jangled in his ear silently. "Why? Could you not see how miserable she was? She needs saving, and with your fairy dust and my cleverness," Peter grinned proudly at this. "we will be able to save her with no problems at all." Tink sighed, rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement. They glided like ghosts through the air and Peter landed, cat like, quietly and stealthily on the branch of the tree just in front of the window. He smiled and just simply stared at Amanda, taking in the radiance of this nine-year-old girl. Her angelic features stood out against her glowing white skin. The moonlight flowed through her hair, making it like a shiny, silver quarter.  
  
'This girl is beautiful in every way, right down to her toes. But she is nothing like Wendy.' Peter thought. Thinking of Wendy brought Peter back to reality and back to his rescue mission.  
  
Peter floated off the branch and inched closer to Amanda. A piece of blond-silver hair was in front of her face and Peter lifted a hand to push it back. The tips of his fingers brushed gently over her closed eyes and around to the side of her face and moved it behind her ear. Amanda sighed in her sleep and readjusted her arms to get comfortable again. The next moment, her eyes were slowly opening and she saw a bright glowing light in front of her face. Tinkerbell smiled and waved happily and Amanda gasped and bolted up, quick as lightning.  
  
Peter stretched his arms and flew into the bedroom and landed on her carefully made up bed, sitting indian style. He smiled at her and Amanda stood up. She was still in her pajamas that consisted of navy blue boxer shorts and a medium length, dark purple nightshirt. She stared at him, mouth open, and Peter smirked and folded his arms over his chest.  
  
"A-are you who I think you are?" Amanda said. Peter raised an eyebrow and raised himself in the air, still sitting cross-legged. Amanda's eyes widened as big as plates and her shocked expression turned into a smile. "It is you! It is! I can't believe you came back!"  
  
"I didn't just come back, I came back for you, little one! Come away. Come away to Neverland," Peter said and uncoiled himself from the air, swooped down to Amanda and picked her up by her hands. She laughed merrily as they floated up to the ceiling. Peter called Tink over to him. "Tink, this is Wendy's sister. Wendy's sister, this is Tinkerbell. Otherwise known as Tink." Peter said as he introduced them.  
  
"My name is Amanda. It's an honor to meet you, Tinkerbell." Amanda said and Tink blushed.  
  
"Ok, Tink. Work your magic on little one here," Peter said. Tink nodded vigorously and flew in circles around Amanda, sending a shower of pink and gold fairy dust all over her body. Peter looked straight into her sparkling green eyes and said, "Now think happy thoughts."  
  
"I'm already happy enough! Thank you so much, Peter!" Amanda cried and flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. For a moment Peter was shocked and did not know what to do. He had never been hugged before, not even by his old Wendy, and he did not know how he should feel. But he saw the pure joy on Amanda's face and he did something that was unexpected. He brought up his arms and wrapped them around her back and pulled her closer to him. The most wonderful feeling in the world filled his heart and he smiled. Not a coy or mischievous one, but a true smile, one that lit up his eyes. He pulled away and let go of her hands so that she hovered by herself beside him. She laughed and flew out the open window, Peter directly behind her and Tink behind him.  
  
Amanda raced into the sky, her arms spread out like a bird. Peter put on a burst of speed and caught up to her.  
  
"Easy, little one. You don't want to get lost now do you?" Peter said.  
  
"I can't help it, Peter! It's so amazing up here that I can't help but fly around! I can't wait until we reach Neverland," Amanda said.  
  
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Peter said, turned, and shot into the clouds. Amanda waved to the city below her. All she saw were tiny dots of lights and Big Ben, the huge clock tower.  
  
"GOODBYE, LONDON! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!" She shouted. Amanda glanced one last time at the spot where her home was. She took a deep breath, smiled, and turned and followed Peter to the second star to the right and headed straight on until morning.  
  
Whispers could be heard along with feet shuffling around. Wendy's nose twitched and she rolled over. She was not having any dreams at the moment but these annoying whispers were disturbing her sleeping. She opened her eyes reluctantly and was, yet again, greeted with a second pair of eyes staring back at her. Wendy knew those eyes and it took her a while to register just whose they belonged to. She screamed and sat up but immediately flew back down. Apparently she had rolled over so that half of her body was hanging off the bed. Of course this happened without her knowledge and so Wendy was now a heap on the floor.  
  
"Good morning, Wendy. Hope you slept well, I sure did," a little voice chimed happily. Wendy looked up at the speaker and gasped. Two piercing, emerald green eyes shimmered at her. She scrambled up and could only gape. The owner of the eyes laughed.  
  
"It's nice to see you too, Wendy. Don't I get a hug?" Wendy closed her mouth and shook her head.  
  
"Amanda, what are you doing here? How-what-HUH?!" Wendy was completely dumbfounded. How in the world had Amanda gotten to Neverland? Why was she here? This made no sense! Amanda raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Jeez, I knew you would be surprised but I didn't think you would be so shocked that you would rather have an explanation than a hug. Do I mean nothing to you anymore?" Amanda teased.  
  
"No, no, not at all! I just want to know what you're doing here. But I am surprised to see you, yes," Wendy said.  
  
"Same as you of course. I came to escape and be with you. Seeing as how you left me the first time, I thought it only fit to come with Peter," Amanda said, leaning up against the wall and examining her nails carelessly.  
  
"Peter? But-this-you-he-"Wendy was literally at a loss for words. Amanda chuckled and walked out of the room. "Come back here, Amanda Michelle! I'm not through with you yet!" Wendy shouted after her. She walked out of the bedroom and saw Amanda at the table eating a bright red apple. Fidget and Midget were fighting over a bowl of grapes and Squeaks was carving into a piece of wood with Peter's dagger. It looked like he was attempting to make a person, but Wendy could not tell. Foxx was lying on the floor with his arms behind his head to act as a pillow, dozing peacefully. Shyla was still in her cubby-bed sleeping. Trinity was no where to be found and the Pan himself was in his chair, one leg draped over the armrest with a magnificent sword in his hand. He was using its sharp tip to try and get the dirt out from under his fingernails. He looked rather bored, but when he glanced up and saw Wendy in the bedroom doorway he smiled. Peter put the sword down on the table and stood up from his chair and walked over to her.  
  
"Good morning, Wendy. I trust you spelt well as usual," Peter said. Wendy looked at him and narrowed her eyes and pointed at Amanda.  
  
"Peter, please explain to me how she showed up in the middle of the night," Wendy said. Peter's eyes widened and looked hastily behind him at Amanda for help. She shrugged and Peter was left to defend himself.  
  
"Well, see, Wendy-uh-I just figured that she had just as much right to be here. She was miserable too and-"Peter started to explain.  
  
"So that makes it ok to just leave and get my sister without consulting me about it first?" Wendy shouted. Amanda stood and walked up next to Peter.  
  
"What is your deal, Wendy? I can't do anything anymore without asking you first! Either that or everything is too dangerous. You can't protect me all the time!" Amanda shouted.  
  
"Yes I can! What makes you think I can't?" Wendy shouted back. Amanda stomped her foot.  
  
"God, Wendy! I thought you would have been happy to have me here! But I guess not. Thanks for totally ruining my first day in Neverland!" Amanda shouted and turned and flew up to the nearest hole. Being as skinny as she was, she fit perfectly and was gone in the next moment. The whole Underground had stopped to watch the scene play out before them. The shouting had woken Shyla, but she didn't say a word the whole time. Wendy's breathing returned to normal and she stared at everyone.  
  
"Are you always like this to each other?" Peter asked timidly. Wendy closed her eyes and sighed.  
  
"Do me a favor, Peter and don't talk to me for the rest of the day." Wendy said and she also flew up and out of Peter's hole at the top of the tree.  
  
Amanda's eyes swelled with tears as she flew through the sky.  
  
"No, no more crying. I promised myself. Not now and not ever." Amanda reminded herself, wiping her eyes angrily. She had been so sure that her big sister would be ecstatic to see her again, to run up and hold Amanda in her arms. But of course after Wendy's little farewell speech, Amanda supposed it had just all been a stupid fantasy.  
  
Amanda spotted a cluster of gray, mossy rocks directly below her so she swooped down and landed on the gracefully. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around her legs. She sighed and thought about what her Mum and Dad were doing right now. They must be going crazy with worry and frantically searching the neighborhood. They weren't home when she left. Instead they were at some stupid dinner party hosted by Mrs. Darling's boos. Amanda was sure the boss' son would be there and would be disappointed at the news of Wendy turning down his father's offer to date him. Amanda smirked and thought,  
  
'Good. I'm glad he's miserable. We can't both have Wendy.' Then her smirk disappeared and she sighed sadly and rested her chin on her knees. Amanda sat by herself for what seemed like hours. The sun was starting to gradually descend and it lit up the sky in a radiant pink. But as she sat there on the rock, little did she know that two pairs of eyes were staring out at her from the entrance of a cave that was just behind her. Before they could come out and advance on her, a head popped out of the water. The owners of the eyes shrank back in, blending in with the blackness surrounding them.  
  
The head had straight, jet black hair with sickly white skin. Its eyes were narrowed into two yellow slits, looking like cat eyes. It was obviously a mermaid, but Amanda did not know until she swam closer and showed its gleaming gray tail. All of the stories about the evil seducing mermaids Wendy had told her about floated carelessly out of her mind.  
  
Amanda got out of the position she was in and crawled up to the edge of the rock. The mermaid smiled coyly and her eyes flashed dangerously, but they never broke its contact with Amanda's curious gaze. A slimy hand with webbed fingers slithered out of the water and worked its way to Amanda's arm. The girl was so intrigued at seeing an actual mermaid that she found it hard to resist staring at it.  
  
Suddenly, without warning, the mermaid grabbed Amanda's arm and gripped it tightly. Amanda broke eye contact with the mermaid and realized that she was probably about to be killed, but it was too late. The mermaid pulled her headfirst into the glimmering blue water, causing the lagoon's water ripple dangerously, and before she knew it, Amanda Darling was being pulled down further and further into the dark waters of the Neverland ocean.  
  
AN: MUHAHAHAHA!!! Bet you didn't expect that did you? Hmmm . . .who do you think is going to save her? You're probably thinking Wendy or Peter right? Well I'll tell you, it's. . .HA! You thought you could get it out of me! WRONG! Read that next chappie if ya wanna know. Okay, enough of me being evil. Here are the SHOUT OUTS!  
  
Surfer-Gurl, KelKelgirl, electricxrain, Sofia/3sh, Pirate, boogalaga, CiCi, LegallyRed (weren't you guys wondering when her name would show up? Lol) and last but not least Zorrina  
  
Thanks, guys for cheering me on! You all have been great supporters! Keep it up, please! Oh and keep a sharp Seeker's eye out for a new story that will hopefully be coming out soon from LegallyRed and me. It's going to be a Newsie story, and we just kinda came up with it last night. Anyway, peace out! 


	11. Heaven

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 11  
  
AN: OMG!! I AM SOOOOO SORRY!! I know I haven't updated in like . . .FOREVER, but I have been working on my two other stories, The Saturday Night He'll Never Forget and Kill the Competition, Sell the Next Edition. I know I have some "Newsies" fans when they reviewed and these two are both "Newsies" stories . . .SO GO READ THEM!  
  
Special thanks to my beloved beta reader and best friend, LegallyRed. She's the one who always gets on me to write my chapters. Thanks, girl! I'd be lost without you! SHOUT OUTS as usual . . .

* * *

Amanda struggled and struggled to free herself from the mermaid's grasp, but without luck. She could feel her head start to get lighter as the pressure of the water suffocated her. Her heartbeat became slower, and she could see a white light coming into her line if vision.  
  
'Is this dying?' Amanda thought. 'Because, if it is, I think I like it . . .oohh, pretty light . . .' With her last ounce of strength she tried to release herself from her captor, but still no luck. Finally, when she reached the dark blue, almost black, depths of the ocean, the last thing Amanda remembered was the light getting brighter and brighter and everything seemed to stop . . .  
  
Amanda's body floated lifelessly in the waters below. The mermaid seemed to have vanished, having accomplished her task of drowning this poor, unsuspecting girl. A huge shadow came swimming into view and grabbed Amanda's body and pulled them up, up, up, breaking the surface of the ocean. The figure gasped for air and they kicked over to the nearest rock, the figure hauling Amanda's body up on the smooth surface while climbing out after her. The mysterious figure bent over Amanda checking for a heart beat. They cursed under their breath and put two hands to Amanda's chest and started to do CPR. . .

* * *

White mist swirled around Amanda as she walked through a room. She looked around her and noticed that everything, from the walls surrounding her to her clothes, was white. Pure white. Not a speck of dust to be seen, nor anything out of proportion. Perfect. Then a horrible thought struck her . . .  
  
"Am I in Heaven?" she said outloud, and her voice echoed throughout this seemingly perfect world. As if someone, or something, could hear her, magnificent white gates were gleaming before, like popping out of thin air. But they didn't pop . . .it was more like they glided forward. There, atop the gates, stood out the words as clear as day, HEAVEN. Amanda started to panic. No, no she couldn't go yet. It wasn't her time! She was to stay in Neverland and stay a little girl forever. If she was in Neverland and not growing up, she couldn't die, right? Right . . .?  
  
Almost as if someone were reading her thoughts, too, a glimmering fountain appeared before her. Although there weren't any statues spitting out water, it was just a plain pool. She cautiously walked over to it and peered over its edge. She placed her hands on its rim and, like someone had switched on the television, an image projected from the water. It looked like two figures, one lying on a rock, obviously unconscious, the other leaning over her. It looked as if they were kissing them. . .  
  
Then the horrible truth came into view. The figure that looked like it was kissing the figure on the rock moved a little, and Amanda saw it.  
  
"That's me!" She was right. Lying on the rock was an unconscious, obviously dead, Amanda. Her skin looked ghostly pale and her lips were starting to turn a purple-blue color. "Oh no! I can't be here! Let me go back, please! I don't belong here! Please, just give me another chance . . ." Amanda cried, hitting the water with her palm and splattering the floor with it. The image disappeared immediately, but soon after that Amanda's body began to fade. She was starting to look like a television station that was not being received. Finally, she was gone.

* * *

"Come on, girl. Wake up . . .," the figure pleaded. One, two, three pumps to the chest and the figure leaned down and put their mouth on top of Amanda's and tried to blow air into her lungs. Finally, after several attempts Amanda's eyes opened and she gasped and coughed up water. She sat up and was gasping, feeling going back into her system. The figure beside her smiled and sighed with relief. All Amanda could do was stare.  
  
"Th-thank you. I don't even know you and you saved my life!" Amanda said, clutching at her chest.  
  
"I'm guessing you're a new Lost and so I say, what are friends for?" The figure winked and Amanda grinned.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"My real name is Lorelei, but my Lost name is Trinity. Nice to meet you . . .?" Trinity trailed off. Amanda laughed.  
  
"Oh! Sorry. My name's Amanda, Amanda Darling," she said. Trinity's smile faded from her face slightly.  
  
"You wouldn't know a girl named Wendy would you?" Trinity asked. Amanda nodded.  
  
"Yeah, Wendy's my sister," Amanda said. Trinity's lip twitched and she suddenly stood up and hopped down from the rock. "Hey, wha-? Wait up!" Amanda shouted, trying to keep up with Trinity as she ran from the beach into the forest.

* * *

Trinity was NOT happy at all. First Wendy had to move in, now her little spawn of a sister? Well, she supposed it wasn't Amanda's fault. No one can pick their family members. But it just made her SO MAD! Who was Wendy to think she could just worm her way into their lives and attract so much of Peter's attention? Who?! It wasn't fair! Everything was going perfectly normal until Wendy showed up. Wendy with her stupid hair . . .Wendy with her eyes always looking at the ground and . . .blushing whenever Peter said something nice to her. Trinity had heard about the stories of Peter's past, about the first Wendy that had come to Neverland. Thankfully she wasn't around to see that because if she had been she probably would have gagged like she is doing now. The way Peter used to talk about the first Wendy is the same way he's talking about this Wendy.  
  
A thought struck Trinity that had never occurred to her before now. _Peter only "loved" this Wendy because she reminded him of his old Wendy._ Trinity knew she should feel bad for this new Wendy . . .but who cares?! SHE'S the one who came here in the first place!  
  
"And probably NOT against her will, either," Trinity mumbled under her breath as she started walking again. She could hear Amanda's footsteps hurrying to keep up with her. Ah, screw it. Let the little shrimp fall behind. Anyone who's associating with Wendy is automatically marked on her Shit List.  
  
Peter watched Wendy fly up through his hole and had a sinking feeling in his heart. Should he NOT have brought Amanda with him? He thought that maybe if Wendy saw her sister again she would be happy . . .but obviously that was what Wendy was trying to get away from. As much as he tried he couldn't seem to get ANYTHING right. Damn it all . . .

* * *

He flopped himself back down in the wooden chair and crossed his arms. Foxx looked over at Peter and cocked and eyebrow.  
  
"You know, pouting about this won't bring her back," Foxx said, slightly amused.  
  
"Shut up," Peter mumbled and sank lower into his seat. Foxx sighed and got up and walked over to his leader.  
  
"Okay, Pete. What's up?" Foxx was the only one who could call Peter, "Pete" and not get a body part chopped off. It was just the way it worked.  
  
"Nothing, Foxx," Peter muttered again. Foxx sighed and smacked him upside the head. "OWWWW! That hurt!" Peter cried, clutching at the back of his head.  
  
"Good! Don't give me that "Nothing" bull crap. Something's wrong but you're just too scared to tell me," Foxx said. Peter glared at him.  
  
"I am not," Peter said.  
  
"Are too," Foxx challenged.  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Ok! I'mafraidWendy'smadatmecuzIbroughthersisteralongwithoutherpermissionandnowsh emighthatemeforit. There I said it!" Peter said in one huge breath. Foxx blinked.  
  
"I'm guessing the translation is, "I'm afraid Wendy's mad at me cuz I brought her sister along without her permission and now she might hate me for it". Is that right?" Foxx asked. Peter nodded. "Look, Peter, she doesn't HATE you. Sure she might be a little ticked off, but she'll get over it. It's you! What girl could never resist you?" Foxx said. Peter grinned.  
  
"Yeah . . .that's true," Peter said and swelled with pride and puffed out his chest. "She'll come back. They always do,"  
  
"Peter, have you seen Amanda?" Well, speak of the angel. "It's pretty dark outside and I can't find her anywhere," Wendy said, flying down through the top of the tree. Peter looked at her with affection but Wendy ignored it. Foxx was trying to hide his snickers through coughing.  
  
"No, Wendy, princess I haven't. I thought you were mad at Amanda anyway," Peter said.  
  
"Oh, Peter I know I said some pretty horrible things but I didn't mean them. Wait-_princess_? Since when have you started calling me that?" Wendy asked, totally forgetting the subject at hand. You see, when Wendy flew off in such a huff she thought about this whole her and Peter situation. Thinking back on when they had first met, she remembered that Peter had been looking for his Wendy. Obviously she didn't fit the qualifications, but since she looked so much like her great grandmother Peter thought it best to be "in love" with her now. Damn her for inheriting the traits that made her look EXACTLY like her relative.  
  
Did she love him? Did she even like him like that? No, they had just met! Wendy did not believe in love at first sight and that was what had happened to Peter. How could she make him see that she was not like her great grandmother? That she had her own thoughts and opinions and reactions to things, not her ancestors? She decided that from now on if Peter made a pass at her that she would move away, or have him say something witty and her blush that she would ignore it and saying something else like nothing ever happened. Yes, that was a sure-fire plan. Right?  
  
"Since just now, Wendy," Peter said smiling coyly at her. Although, that smile of his was pretty cute . . .NO! FOCUS!  
  
"Peter, please we have to find her! Who knows what kind of trouble she could be in," Wendy said, turning away so she wouldn't get sucked in again. Hey, she was new to this!  
  
"I'm fine, Wendy. I'm actually surprised that you'd come looking for me," said a voice from Wendy's left. There was Amanda, climbing in through the hole. Obviously some of the pixie dust had left her. Wendy ran up to her sister and enveloped her into a hug.  
  
"I was getting worried, Mandy. And of course I'd come looking for you! I know what I said was mean but I was just in shock," Wendy said and pulled away . . .noticing that the front of her clothes were not slightly wet. "Mandy, you're drenched! What happened?"  
  
"Mermaid got her and drowned her," Trinity said, stepping through behind Amanda. Wendy stood up and held on to Amanda by the shoulders.  
  
"Drowned . . ._drowned_ her? You mean she-"  
  
"Yes, Wendy I died. But it was so cool! I got to see what heaven looks like . . .although I think it might be starting to fade away," Amanda added thoughtfully.  
  
"I was flying over when I saw Amanda getting pulled in. I pulled her out and did CPR on her and she finally came to, spitting up water," Trinity said.  
  
"Thank you so much, Trinity. If you need anything in return-"Wendy said. Trinity shook her head, even though she so desperately wanted to say, Yeah, leaving would be nice. But she held her tongue.  
  
"I want you to return anything. I don't want any favors paid or anything like that," Trinity said and turned and flew back out through the hole. Wendy sighed. She wished she knew what was wrong.  
  
"Come on, Mandy. Let's get you a blanket and see if we can't start a fire to get you dry," Wendy said, leading Amanda into Peter's room. Wendy walked by Peter without so much as a glance. This puzzled Peter. The Wendy he knew would give him a sweet grin first, then blush and be on her merry way. Hmmmm . . .this complicated things a bit.

* * *

AN: Hey guys! YAY! I'M BACK! Ok, I know that Peter may have come off as cheesy in this chapter, but he's a guy! Maybe even a little Gary Stu-ish. But believe me, that's not going to be the case. You know, Peter. He'll be cool about it. And Trinity may have seemed harsh, but trust me she'll get better. Yeah, Wendy's JUST now figuring out that Peter just might be using her a little bit. So she's a bit slow on the uptake. You'd do the same thing! DON'T LIE, YOU KNOW YOU WOULD! LoL. Ok, enough with that. SHOUT OUTS!  
  
Willa, Mellem, harryptaxd204, Sofia/3sh, electricxrain, LegallyRed, boogalaga, surfer-gurl and KelKelgirl  
  
THANKS YOU GUYS! You are the awesome. Please keep it up! 


	12. Plans

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 12  
  
AN: Woot! Chapter 12 is finally here! Thanks you guys for the reviews. Even though I didn't get as many as I expected, that's all right. (points and glares at all of you) But I better see some more this time. LoL just kidding. Anyway, there's nothing more to say here. SHOUT OUTS at the bottom. Please read and review!

* * *

Wendy led Amanda through to Peter's room, where Wendy was still sleeping, and took the warm, cowhide blanket off the bed.  
  
'I am so stupid! This is all my fault. If I hadn't yelled at her in the first place none of this would have happened. Why can't I learn to leave things alone and be happy once in a while?' Wendy thought, struggling to pull the blanket off. Once she did, she turned to Amanda and looked her over.  
  
"Too bad you didn't bring any extra clothes, then we could-oh no! Wait! I did, hang on," Wendy said, putting the blanket back on the bed temporarily. She walked over to the corner of the room and picked up her small backpack. She had filled it with various objects before she left and one of them just happened to be a full set of clothes. Pajamas actually. But hey they were better than nothing! Long, red flannel pants and a light pink baggy shirt was laid on the bed and Wendy walked over to Amanda and motioned for her to take off her sopping wet clothes. Amanda did so in a hurry and put on the pajamas, throwing her wet clothes on the floor. Wendy picked them up while Amanda wrapped the blanket around herself and Wendy was about to step out when Amanda said,  
  
"He likes you, you know," Wendy stopped in her tracks and turned around.  
  
"Who, Mandy?"  
  
"Peter! It's SO obvious," Amanda said, rolling her eyes. Wendy sighed and hung her head.  
  
"I know," Wendy said quietly. Amanda's eyes widened.  
  
"You know? How?"  
  
"Well, like you said it was obvious and I knew from the moment he met me. But he doesn't like me. I only remind him of his old Wendy,"  
  
"You mean great grandmother Wendy?" Amanda asked with disbelief.  
  
"The very same. I don't like him the way he does for me, I mean I care about him, sure, but only as a friend," Wendy said. Amanda smirked.  
  
"You will,"  
  
"What? No I won't!"  
  
"Yes, you will. It's like a rule! Every girl Peter has met will fall for him, but the sad part will be that he doesn't like them back. Now you have a chance with him!" Wendy eyed Amanda suspiciously.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Look at him! He's nice, cute, brave, everything that a girl is looking for. And you know that Peter has had some girls come along, but none like you," Wendy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Please. I don't like him and I never will." Wendy said. Amanda smirked.  
  
"Never say never, Wendy." Wendy rolled her eyes again, turned and walked out of the room, Amanda following.

* * *

Captain James Hook stood in front of a stained glass window. The moon above cast light through it, making the usual reds and blues and greens seem silver. The moonlight caught his face that hadn't aged since we last saw him. His curly black hair was still bunched up in the ringlets and he wore a crimson coat trimmed with gold with a white blouse underneath. He wore his usual black pants and black Victorian age shoes. Smee stood behind him, clad in his usual everyday outfit and was, yet again, wringing the red hat between his hands.  
  
"It's almost here, Smee. Princess Tiger Lily's cousin is almost ten, soon to become a man in their tribe. I want to be there to see it," Captain Hook said.  
  
"Y-yes of course, Captain. Now that you have your memories back, are you sure you want to-"Smee began.  
  
"Do not underestimate me, Smee. Just because I remember everything does not make me weak, nor will it ever. Understand?" Hook said as he turned from the window, the tip of his deadly hook glinting in the candlelight. Smee eyed it wearily.  
  
"Yes, Captain,"  
  
"I thank you for coming to my rescue, seeing as how you were the only one that cared. I thank you for restoring my memories," Hook said and bowed a little. Smee was stunned. Captain Hook, thanking little old Smee AND bowing to him? It did not seem possible.  
  
"Y-y-you're welcome, Captain," Smee stuttered.  
  
"I want to be there, as I know Pan will also be attending. I want to be front row when I see my men capture the little brat. And I will thoroughly enjoy it when I finally get to slice his throat. Peter Pan gone once and for all."

* * *

The next morning, Wendy awoke to-rain? But. . .it NEVER rained in Neverland. Except of course if Peter was depressed or hurt or. . .dead. The weather had always been controlled over Peter's emotion, something to which still bothered Wendy. She looked to her left and saw Amanda curled up in a ball under half of the blanket. Wendy smiled. She was glad that they had made up last night. She didn't know if she could stand to be angry with her sister if she was to be in Neverland with her. Of course, as soon as Amanda and all of the other Lost had drifted off to sleep, Peter sat down beside her. They had a very nice conversation going, but Peter ruined it the moment he tried to kiss her again. Wendy had turned away and said she was suddenly feeling very tired. So she picked up Amanda from the floor and had retreated back to her room. Was Peter ever going to take the hint that she didn't like him that way? She hoped today would be different because she didn't want to have to hurt Peter's feelings by telling him.  
  
Wendy got out of the feather bed and walked out of the room to find Peter at the table teaching Midget how to carve. He stood behind her, holding her little hands in his big ones with the dagger Squeaks had been using and showed her how to properly hold the wood and dagger so she wouldn't cut herself. Peter looked up and saw Wendy in the doorway and he smiled at her and went back to Midget's lesson. Wendy grinned and looked to her right and saw Squeaks at the other end of the table, also trying to carve. She walked over to him and sat down next to him. It looked like the same piece of wood he was carving the other day.  
  
"That's very good, Squeaks. What's it supposed to be?" Wendy asked, pointing at the wood. Squeaks smiled and held it out for Wendy to see. It was a person, complete with clothes and a very detailed bandana and a cowboy hat around their throat. She could see that their face was too in detail. It was a boy with short hair and small eyes.  
  
"'Dis is Jack Kelly, leadah of tha Manhattan newsies. Ise only hoid about him from stories from me mudda but I got ta meet him last yeah before. . .before me family died," Squeaks said, his smile fading a little. He went back to carving.  
  
"I know you miss them, Squeaks and this may sound a little cheesy, but they're not gone. Not as long as you keep them around in you're memory they'll never be gone," Wendy said gently. Squeaks looked back at her and smiled.  
  
"I knows. Ise jus' don' talk about 'em very much and when I dos Ise tend ta freeze up,"  
  
"It's okay. I know how you feel. I did the same thing when my grandmother died two years ago. I wouldn't come out of my room for two weeks,"  
  
"What did ya do?" Squeaks asked hopefully. Wendy could see Peter listening out of the corner of her eye, even if he was teaching Midget.  
  
"I cried and cried until there was nothing left to cry about. I eventually came out and I realized that she was gone and never coming back. But I still kept her in my prayers I eventually let her go. I still think about her from time to time and I remember the good times we had. So if you keep the good memories with you and remember that no matter where they are they love you, you can never let them go. They will always be in your heart," Wendy said, placing her hand on his chest where his heart was. Squeaks smiled grew and he put down his carved figure and knife and hugged her. Wendy hugged him back and gave him an extra squeeze before he pulled away, picked up his Jack Kelly figure and started to carve again. "So tell me about this Jack. What makes him so special?"  
  
"Years before Ise was born, he led his newsies inta a strike against Pulitzer and Hearst, who's prolly dead by now. See, theys wanted ta charge more money from tha newsies for their papes, so theys raised tha price a tenth of a cent from what theys usually pay. Everyone was mad 'cuz they didn' have that kinda money. Well Jack decided that theys should strike and not sell tha papes until the price went back ta where it was. Theys tried everything! Theys even got tha newsies from all ovah New Yawk! Brooklyn, Harlem, Queens, Coney Island, everywhere! Theys even got some a tha sweatshop kids, ya knows kids who woik in factories, ta join 'em. Eventually Jack and David, Jack's best friend, talked ta Pulitzer and convinced him ta lower the price and it woiked! They put tha papes back ta fifty cents. Ise gots ta meet him through a friend a mine. Jack's my hero, well after Peter a course," Squeaks explained. Now that Wendy thought about it, that story did sound familiar. Oh, yes now she remembered. She had to write a paper over it at school.  
  
Wendy felt a tug at the waist of her Beatles shirt. "Wendy, I'm hungry," said a little voice. Wendy turned and saw Fidget, his eyes big and pleading. Wendy laughed and ruffled his hair.  
  
"Sure, kiddo. What would you like?" Fidget thought for a moment and shrugged.  
  
"Anything, really. I'm not picky," he said.  
  
"HA!" said Midget from the other end of the table where Peter was still teaching her. "That's a lie, Wendy. Don't believe him," Fidget turned.  
  
"Shut up, Midget! I'm not that picky if I'm really hungry. And I am today!" Fidget said. Midget stuck her tongue out at him and Fidget followed suit. Wendy sighed.  
  
"All right, you two. That's enough. I'll just make breakfast for everyone. Oh! Good morning, Trinity!" Wendy called brightly to Trinity as she came into the tree. "I was just about to make some breakfast. Care to join us?" Trinity was about to wander over to her bed when she stopped.  
  
"No, I'm not hungry." She said shortly and turned around and flew out the tree again. Wendy looked uncertainly at Squeaks.  
  
"Is she always like this?" Squeaks shook his head.  
  
"No. She's always happy. Don' know why she hasn' been." Squeaks said. Wendy looked up and glanced at Peter, who wasn't even paying attention to her! Had she gotten through to him after all?

* * *

AN: I know! Bad ending right? Well anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!  
  
harryptaxd204, Mellem, Sofia/3sh, and Red  
  
You guys are so cool and I love each and every one of you. Please keep it up! 


	13. They're Back

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 13  
  
AN: I hope everyone liked the last chapter. I tried my best! LoL. Hopefully my little piece about Jack Kelly sparked your interest into the movie "Newsies". And yes that actually happened, "Newsies" is based on a true story. Only Jack Kelly wasn't the leader, a guy named Kid Blink was and he's in the movie. (Sigh) I like him. . .ANYWAY, I hope everyone enjoys this! SHOUT OUTS as usual at the bottom.

* * *

"Since when does _Wendy_ make breakfast for us? We were doing fine until she showed up! Trying to worm her way into Peter's heart. . .," Trinity mumbled under her breath as she stomped her way through the forest. This time she was absolutely furious! It was and always had been her duty to look after the little ones and make them breakfast if they didn't want to imagine their food or go out and hunt. Now that this. . ._girl_ had taken over, what was she supposed to do?  
  
A rustle from a nearby bush made Trinity stop. The rustling grew louder and Trinity slowly moved her hand to her pants where she kept her dagger hidden. Without moving as much as possible, her hand slid into her pocket and she drew out a gold dagger, clutched the hilt in her hand, turned and came face to face with Captain Hook. He grabbed Trinity's wrist that was holding the dagger and squeezed, making her fingers unclench and letting the object fall to the ground.  
  
"What do we have here? A little Lost out on her own without Pan to protect her. . ." Captain Hook sneered. Trinity glared at him.  
  
"I can protect myself _without_ Peter's help. I've been doing so since I can remember," she said. Captain Hook looked at her.  
  
"You don't seem familiar to me. Who are you?" he demanded. Trinity looked away and Hook squeezed her wrist harder. She winced but did not cry out.  
  
"My name is Trinity. No need to ask who you are, Captain Hook," Trinity said. Hook grinned and let her wrist free. Trinity staggered backwards, holding her wrist to her chest and massaging it to get some feeling back. Hook started to circle her like a boxer in a match, and he eyed her like a hawk. Trinity paid no attention to this.  
  
"I'm not surprised that you know who I am. No doubt that Pan friend of yours has told you of his defeat of me,"  
  
"Obviously he didn't defeat you if you're circling me like a shark," Trinity mumbled, still trying to nurse her wrist. Hook's grin grew.  
  
"I like your attitude. You remind me of me when I was your age," Hook said.  
  
"I'm flattered," Trinity said sarcastically. Hook gave a grumble of a laugh and it grew until he was laughing. It sounded evil, like he was plotting something. Trinity didn't like it.  
  
"Girl, you seem angry. And you don't look like the kind of person who's angry all the time. Care to tell me your troubles?" Hook offered, stopping in front of her. Trinity looked up at him.  
  
"No." Hook chuckled.  
  
"Come now, girl, come now. There must be _something_," Hook said. He could see it in her eyes that something was bothering her and he intended to take full advantage of it. Trinity hesistated.  
  
"Well. . .there _is_ something. Or rather someone, who's bothering me," Trinity started uneasily. Should she tell Hook, Peter's most hated enemy, of her loathing of Wendy?  
  
"Go on, girl," Hook urged.  
  
"There's this girl who Peter brought with him and now he expects her to be our mother," Hook's ears perked up at this. There was another who Peter wanted his Lost to be their mother and her name was Wendy Darling. But surely Wendy could not be here, now. . . "Peter's completely taken a liking to her and before she came I was the one who ran everything. I was the oldest girl in charge and now Wendy comes in-"  
  
"Wendy? Wendy Darling?" Hook interrupted.  
  
"Yes, but it's not the Wendy you think. It's Wendy great granddaughter, or something. Now she's in our lives like that and Peter's automatically fallen in love with her just because of her looks," Trinity finished angrily. "And I hate her for it," Hook's brain began to turn as another plot formulated. He could use this girl to get to Pan he was sure of it. But how?  
  
"So you hate this Wendy because you think she stole Pan away from you? Is that it?" Hook asked.  
  
"I don't think, I _know_ she stole him! I hate her! I wish she were dead!" Trinity yelled. Hook smirked, walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"That, my dear, Trinity, can be arranged." Hook said and led himself and Trinity out of the forest.

* * *

Mrs. Darling lay on her daughter Amanda's bed, flat on her back gazing up at the ceiling. It had been three days since Amanda left, and six since Wendy left. She missed them, both of them. How could she not? They were her daughters. But her maternal instincts told her that they were all right, even so far away in Neverland.  
  
She sat up and spied the small pink book laying by the window and she smiled. She remembered that book. Remembered all the pictures and the writings in there, but they weren't as great as the actual memories.  
  
Mrs. Darling got up and walked over to the open window, bent down and picked up the book. She opened it and was instantly greeted with dazzling colored drawings and little paragraphs underneath them. She remembered when her grandmother explained the drawings to her and told her of the wonderful place that was Neverland. Her grandmother would tell of how the marvelous Peter Pan would come back for her every spring cleaning and have another great adventure.  
  
Mrs. Darling could easily recall the day when Peter came to this very same window and took her to Neverland. She was fourteen, a year older than her daughter at the time. She did not have any siblings to tag along and so she played with the Lost that were there. She loved all of them, the twins Fidget and Midget, the oldest Lost, Foxx, the littlest one Shyla and the quietest one, Squeaks. Mrs. Darling had loved them all like her own brothers and sisters, but she was there for a while before she realized she had to go back.  
  
While on her stay, Mrs. Darling had developed a crush on Peter. A week before she left she had told him how she felt about him, but Peter did not return the feelings. Mrs. Darling feared because she did not look like her grandmother, and so she had left in a hurry, not even saying goodbye to Peter. She instantly regretted telling Peter anything, as he had not come to her window ever again.  
  
Now Mrs. Darling was dreading the worst. She knew Wendy looked so much like her great grandmother and knew that if Peter had taken her daughter, he would fall in love with her just for her looks. If Wendy had also fallen in love with Peter, Mrs. Darling did not want Wendy's heart broken when she had to leave him. For she knew Wendy would not stay long in Neverland. No one ever did and Amanda follows Wendy wherever she goes and so they would be back in these beds before they knew it. How did she know? She didn't, but she was trusting her gut and no member of the Darling family ever stayed in Neverland forever. It was like a curse. A curse that could not and would not be broken.

* * *

After Wendy had cut up strawberries, bananas, grapes, apples, kiwis, watermelons and any other fruit that was in her possession and laid it on the table, they began their morning breakfast. It wasn't much of anything besides a raid of fruit, but that's all Wendy knew how to do and none of the Lost complained. After a while, Amanda had roused from her sleep and taken her "breakfast" without fuss. Wendy was happy about this and figured that this mother thing could work out after all. Although she was starting to get worried. Trinity had not returned and it was nearing mid afternoon.  
  
"I'm going to go look for Trinity," Wendy announced after she had cleared the table. Peter stood up.  
  
"I'll come with you, Wendy," Oh no. So much for getting through to him. Wendy sighed.  
  
"Peter, you don't have to. I can manage by myself,"  
  
"I know but there's something I want to show you on the way." Peter said. Wendy sighed again and reluctantly agreed. While it was true she didn't know her way around the island, she wanted to explore. Peter motioned Tinkerbell over and she sprinkled Wendy with her dust.  
  
"I'll be back after a while, guys," Wendy said, lifting herself into the air.  
  
"Foxx, you're in charge while we're gone. Anything happens you know what to do," Peter said glancing at Foxx and Tink. The Lost stood up and saluted Peter before him and Wendy departed.  
  
While flying through the cool breeze, Wendy started to call out Trinity's name.  
  
"Trinity! Trinity, where are you! TRINITY!" she yelled. Off to their right, Captain Hook's ship the Jolly Roger floated in the bay. The sails were up and billowing in the wind, looking like an ordinary ship. 'That's odd. I could have sworn those sails weren't up when I came here. The only time they could be up are when. . .no but that's impossible! Peter killed Hook.' Wendy thought. She glanced over at Peter and she could tell that by the look on his face he was thinking the exact same thing.  
  
They flew on for a little longer, until about a dozen voice floated over to them, singing. Wendy and Peter looked around them, wondering where it was coming from. Peter looked over his shoulder and could make out small figures moving around the deck of the ship. A glint of gold ricocheted from the sun, and it was pointing in their direction.  
  
"Wendy, fly lower!" Peter yelled. Wendy looked beside her at Peter.  
  
"What? Why?" she asked.  
  
"Trust me! Fly lower and land! Now!" Peter said and Wendy did as she was ordered. She positioned her body so that it flew to the ground. Peter followed her and once they were safely on the ground, the peeked their heads out from behind shrubbery on a cliff, overlooking the ocean. Peter spied the glint of gold again and recognized it as a telescope. Upon closer inspection, he could make out the figures more clearly. Pirates.  
  
Wendy saw them too for she gasped. "Pirates? What are pirates doing here? I thought you ran them off!"  
  
"Me too. But something's going on, I can feel it. They're back for a reason, so we need to stay on our guard. If it has anything to do with Hook- "  
  
"But I thought Hook was dead! How can this have something to do with a dead man?" Peter shrugged.  
  
"There can be many reasons for this, but I know his men and they're very loyal to Hook. Let's just leave it for now and when we get back we'll have a meeting," Peter said. He got up. "We'll continue on foot. I don't want to take any chances. My guess is that if there are pirates about they'll want revenge for their dear old Captain." Wendy snorted.  
  
"Not likely. They all have half a brain and they only took orders from Hook. Do you really think they could plan your capture on their own?" Wendy said, standing up herself. Peter turned to her and grinned. He laughed and started to walk into the forest with Wendy beside him.

* * *

AN: So, what did you think? I know it's short, but it's like 3 AM here, and I'm really tired. But hey at least I updated right? LoL. Hmmm. . .wonder what Peter wanted to show Wendy. (pause) I know what you might be thinking, and it's. . .not that. ANYWAY, moving on. I forgot to put a disclaimer in my last chapter for "Newsies", which I will do so now.  
  
DISCLAIMER!: I do not own "Newsies" or any of its characters. I did not make it up, it belongs to Disney and Disney alone. I wish I did own them though. . .that'd rock! Anyway, so there you have it. My "Newsies" disclaimer. Speaking of "Newsies" I have a couple of stories that I am writing. One is about Kid Blink getting his Saturday night with the Mayor's daughter, and if any of you know what I'm talking about, it was in the song "King of New York". But this story has a twist to it. **The Saturday Night He'll Never Forget** is the name of it. Granted I might change the title, but I am growing rather fond of it. Also that I can't come up with anything else. My next story is one that I am co-writing with my best friend LegallyRed. **Kill the Competition, Sell the Next Edition** is the name of that one. Three girls from Brooklyn come to Manhattan and. . .oh my gosh it's just so funny. You'll just have to check it out for yourself if you are interested! REVIEWS ARE WELCOMED!!  
  
And now time for the shout outs. . .  
  
HanaBiko-san, harryptaxd204, and Jack's one and only. . .also known as LegallyRed. Check out her stories too! THEY ROCK!  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Well. . .those three people anyway. LoL. Please review! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!! (pause) Ok, that's it for me. Until chapter 14! Later!  
  
DreamlessMermaid 


	14. Visions and Agreements

Peter Pan: The Next Generation  
By: DreamlessMermaid  
Chapter 14  
  
AN: Yay! Back with another chapter. Thanks for the reviews on the last one. SHOUT OUTS at the bottom.  
  
Oh! Btw, I have a new "Newsies" story out that is called **Newsies 2004?** It's about the boys getting thrown into the future and it will take place for a whole school year. You'll see what I mean. Please go read the prologue! I NEED REVIEWS! I only have one so far! So please review on that one too! I am also holding a Casting Call so if you want to be apart of my story, just fill out the form and leave it in a review or send it via e-mail. Whichever way works best for you. Thanks! And now chapter 14 for your enjoyment. . .

* * *

"So. . .where are we going anyway? Besides looking for Trinity, I mean." Wendy asked a couple of minutes later. Peter looked back at her over his shoulder and smirked.  
  
"You'll see," Wendy didn't know if she should be worried about this or happy. Well why would she be worried? 'It's not like he's going to take me somewhere and try and kill me.' Wendy thought. Not even close. Happy? _Should_ she be happy because she's going to be alone with him? If she really hasn't given him the message that she didn't like him like that who knows what could happen. Wendy's concerns were soon depleted as her and Peter came into a clearing.  
  
The grass was cool and soft under Wendy's feet, the circle of dark green trees around them blew with the whispering wind and a well, with solid gray bricks, stood in the middle of the clearing. Peter looked to Wendy and beckoned her closer and together they walked up to the well. Wendy put her hands on the edge of the well and looked into black water.  
  
"Peter, what is this? Where are we?" Wendy asked, mesmerized by the water.  
  
"This is a place the fairies built a long time ago. Tink told me it has been here as long as I have. It's sort of like a hiding place because it's invisible to outsiders, except for the people who already know where it is? Does that make sense?" Peter asked, putting his hands on the edge of the well also. Wendy nodded.  
  
"I think so. Do you come here often?"  
  
"No. This is only my second time to be here. The first time I came Tink showed me the way because I was upset after Wendy left," Peter said. Wendy took her eyes away from the water and gazed at Peter.  
  
"My great grandmother?" Peter nodded.  
  
"This well is a magic well, given to by the fairies after it was built. The one who wants to check up on loved ones in the real world, can look in it, say the name of the ones they wish to see and an image will instantly appear. The first time I've used it was to check up on Wendy, to see how she was. After that I've never been back here since," Peter explained. Things were slowly starting to fall into place in Wendy's mind of why she was lead here.  
  
"So . . .what does this have to do with me?" Wendy asked, glancing at the water.  
  
"I figured you might want to see how your family is. You've never said a word about them since you've arrived here," Peter said timidly. He had his hands behind his back and was looking like a little five-year-old who had done something bad. In this case, to Wendy, he had.  
  
"That's the point. I came here to escape my Mother, escape the real world and all of its stupid responsibilities. I came here to be free and stay young forever and now you want me to see how they're _doing_?" Wendy asked, disbelief evident in her voice. Peter nodded shortly and Wendy crossed her arms over her chest. "I won't do it. I refuse."  
  
"Please, Wendy? What if. . .what if they were in trouble? What if something was wrong with your Mother?" Wendy scoffed.  
  
"I could care less what happens to my dear old Mother. She's the reason why I'm here," she said darkly. Peter sighed.  
  
"What about your Father? What if there was something wrong with him?" Peter asked quietly. This got Wendy's attention. Sure her Father had never really been there for Wendy all her life, but she loved him dearly and would be devastated if anything happened to him. Plus if she wasn't there in Neverland and something had happened to her Father, she would be left alone with her Mother. And that wouldn't have been fun. Wendy sighed and uncrossed her arms.  
  
"Fine. You've found my weak point," Wendy said and Peter brightened. He smiled and directed Wendy to look back at the water. She placed her hands on the rim of the well again and Peter called out,  
  
"Mr. Darling, Wendy Darling's Father," As soon as the words left his mouth, a fuzzy image appeared and it soon cleared to reveal Mr. Darling. He was sitting on Wendy's bed in the nursery, gazing out the window. The main lights in the room were off but the lamp on her bedside table was lit and cast an eerie glow around Mr. Darling. Wendy watched him stroke a hand over her pillow and bedspread that was, to Wendy's great surprise, still in the form of the day that she left.  
  
Like a camera, the image zoomed closer to Mr. Darling and Wendy saw the love and worry in his eyes. She saw his lips give a small smile and she could tell he was holding back tears. Wendy also felt like crying. She had wanted to see her Father, she had thought she would be happy if she saw him. So why was she feeling so miserable? She saw him sigh and, was that a tear rolling down his cheek? Wendy was about to turn away but Mr. Darling said something that made her turn back.  
  
"Wendy, my little princess, wherever you are I hope you're happy. I love you, angel." He then stood up, turned off the little lamp and the room went black. Wendy sniffed and she felt her cheeks: they were wet. She wiped them away and turned away from the well and stumbled over to the outskirts of the clearing. Peter passed his hand over the surface of the well and the image disappeared and the water replaced it. Peter walked over to Wendy slowly and put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Wendy? Are you all right?" Peter asked with concern. He heard her give another sniff.  
  
"He's talking about me like I'm dead," Wendy said her voice trembling. "He thinks I am an angel and that I could hear him." She laughed and a sob escaped her throat. Peter put both hands on her shoulders and turned her around. She did not protest as she let him turn her and stare at her face. She felt his fingers brush away the tear trails on her cheeks.  
  
"Wendy, _do you want to go back_?" Peter asked seriously. Before answering, Wendy considered it but after a moment she shook her head no. While it was true that she missed her Father, she did not miss her Mother in the slightest and now that she knew her Father was okay, what was there to go back to? "_Are you sure_?" Peter asked again and Wendy nodded. Peter smiled faintly and pulled her into a hug, which Wendy did not mind one bit.

* * *

She ran, her feet pounding on the forest floor, tree branches reaching out and scratching her face, arms, neck and other parts of her uncovered body. Her heart pounding, her blood thumping in her veins, her breaths coming out in short pants, gasping for air. She tripped over a large tree root and she tumbled to the earth, landing on her knees and falling over on to her stomach.  
  
She lay there, bruised and bloodied, trying to catch her breath. She pulled herself up into a sitting position and sat there to stop her head from spinning. The forest around her was quiet, except for the occasional calls of various birds. She was alone, except for a couple of lights shoot by like bullets, fairies flitting from tree to tree. Finally catching up with her normal heartbeat she pulled her knees up to her chest, her jeans tattered and stained brown from the dirt.  
  
'I hope I did the right thing.' She thought to herself and she closed her eyes, remembering, what had seemed hours, what was only minutes before. . .  
  
_He led her on to his magnificent ship, the ship that she had only heard stories about. The ship she thought to be long gone. It looked as if it were in perfect condition, like it had never suffered any damage.  
  
A hand on her shoulder, she ignored the hungry stares of the other men as he led her across the deck of the ship and through a door, which he closed behind them. The only light that was provided was the sunlight flooding in from the stained glass window and a couple of lit candles posted throughout the room.  
  
"Please sit, my dear," he said, indicating a chair in front of a dark cherry colored desk. Her eyes never left his form as she sat cautiously in the elegant chair. He also sat, but behind the desk in another elegant chair. He pulled a bottle out from under the desk and he popped the cork. "Rum?"  
  
"No, thank you," she said venomously. He shrugged, took a huge drink himself, put the cork back on and put it back underneath the desk. "Just tell me why I'm here."  
  
"You have something I want, and I have something you want. I want Pan dead and you want Wendy dead. I see no reason why we can't make a deal," he said, leaning back. She lifted her chin defiantly.  
  
"I may hate Wendy but I do not want Peter dead,"  
  
"I thought you might say something like that. You. . ._love_ Pan right?" he asked. She hesistated and she could see a malicious glint in his eye. She nodded. "The only thing standing in the way is Wendy. Like you said, she's running your lives and Pan has fallen for her. Why not let me take care of Wendy for you? That way you can be free to have Pan,"  
  
"But you just said you wanted him dead,"  
  
"Did I? Oh my dear, no! No! I'm getting old, my mind is failing me. Sometimes I talk outloud and say things I don't really mean."  
  
"_But you just said_-"  
  
"Now look here, girl I'm giving you offer you can't refuse. I will capture Wendy and kill her in exchange for you. I can sense that you are very strong and I'm certain that the boys and I would love to have you join us in piracy. What do you say?" he asked, leaning forward in his chair this time, his face in the candle light, his fingers clasped together waiting patiently.  
  
"But what would I do? I cannot be expected to pillage," she said, cocking her head to one side. He smirked.  
  
"Of course not my dear, of course not. What do you take me for? A pirate?" He asked. She grinned.  
  
"Well. . .I've secretly always wanted to become a pirate," She admitted. He smiled and stood up and came around to her side. She also stood up and he led the two of them out of the cabin.  
  
"You know that in one week's time there will be a special event being held in Neverland, is this correct?" he asked and she nodded. "Well this what we do," he bent down and continued to whisper in her ear so that only she could hear.  
  
"And you swear you won't hurt Peter in the slightest?" she asked after he had finished explaining. He raised his hands like he was being held at gunpoint with a shocked expression.  
  
"I won't touch a hair on his head. I promise," he said and she nodded. He took her over to the edge of this ship. "MR. SMEE! Smee will take you to shore, my dear," he said as Smee came stumbling over to them and began to climb down the rope ladder. He took her hands and eased her down after Smee, lowering her into the boat. "Goodbye. See you in a week." He waved her off and her, Smee and the little boat they were in sailed away, becoming a small dot in the distance. . .  
_  
So now here she was, Trinity, sitting alone in the forest, wondering if what she had just agreed to was the best thing, or the worst thing she could have imagined.

* * *

AN: Yay! Another successful chapter. What does Hook have up his sleeve? WHAT DID TRINITY DO?! These will be answered in good time. Please be patient. ((bows a la Peter)) Anywho, now on with my PLEASE REVIEW rants. PLEASE REVIEW! LoL  
  
SHOUT OUTS!: Mellem, LegallyRed, harryptaxd204 and AngelicPirate  
  
Thanks, guys!! I hope to see more reviews soon! And, please, please, PLEASE go read my new "Newsies" story. As I have said in the above AN, it's only the prologue and I am having a Casting Call. Read the story to find out what the form is. MUHAHA!

DreamlessMermaid


	15. Invitation

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

By: DreamlessMermaid

Chapter 15

**AN: Dude, I KNOW that I haven't updated this in a LONG time. I got my computer taken away from me like the first week of school and just got back. Plus I had a bit of writer's block for this story over the summer. A MILLION APOLOGIES! Please enjoy ((bows))**

* * *

By the time Peter and Wendy had reached the Underground, it was nearing mid afternoon. The sun was high in the sky and it was humid and sticky inside the forest. Rays of sunlight could be seen peaking through the leaves, and the slight breeze that had met them at the clearing followed them back to the Underground.

Trinity was still nowhere to be seen. Even as Peter and Wendy fumbled through the correct holes, something which Peter still needed to fit for Wendy and Amanda. It was oddly discomforting to Peter. Trinity was never one to go off alone and not come back for hours, unless she was hunting. Foxx would usually accompany her. Trinity was also never in a rage when she would leave the Underground.

Wendy, on the other hand, was still wary of Peter. What he did for her back at the clearing was nice for her, but her feelings toward him were still unsure, no matter what Amanda accused. Deep down she felt relieved and happy to see that her father was all right and doing well. . .Except for the fact that Wendy was gone. Wendy knew that her father would eventually get along without her, forget about her and Amanda and just go on with his life. But something was telling Wendy otherwise.

"Hi, guys. How was the Trinity Hunt?" Foxx asked, grinning, coming up to Peter and Wendy. The twins, Shyla, Amanda, and Squeaks gathered around the two explorers, clearly wanting an explanation.

"No luck, Foxx. We'll just have to wait to see if she comes back," Wendy said, sighing. She sat down in an empty wooden chair and put her head in her palm.

"Well she has to right? I mean she can't survive out there forever." Amanda said.

"I suppose so. I've only been here a few days and already I can tell that she's stubborn, **((AN-1))**"

"She's not," Peter said. Wendy turned to him.

"Really? That's news to me," she said sarcastically.

"She's not like this, ever. I don't know what's got her so upset,"

"Peter, think about it. Wendy is clearly the problem," Amanda said. Wendy sputtered.

"I-I'm what?!" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Oh please, don't tell me you all haven't noticed. Trinity is totally jealous," Amanda said. Peter shook his head.

"That doesn't sound like her."

"It sounds exactly like her. Whenever she saved me, I only _mentioned_ my last name and she got all huffy and pissy," Amada said.

"Her face was red when she came back that day." Shyla mentioned quietly. Amanda nodded fervently.

"Aha, see there? More proof." Wendy frowned.

"But what did I do? All I did was-"

"Pretty much take over," Foxx interrupted. Peter's eyes shifted to Tinkerbell from atop a shelf. She gave him this "I told you so" look and Peter grimaced. He knew perfectly well that he shouldn't have taken Wendy with him. But she was miserable and unhappy! Peter was like a child's dream come true, to be taken to a far away place, never to have to face the real world again. He could see that Wendy needed a vacation desperately. Although he also knew that it would be very short lived.

Wendy sighed impatiently. "I don't see where this is going, Foxx,"

"Okay, pretend you were here before Trinity. Way before, I mean maybe ten to fifteen years. Picture yourself doing all the chores Trinity does: Cooks, cleans, makes the food, hunts for the food, the works. Then this new girl comes along, this imposter of whom Peter is taken for," Peter gave a sharp look at Foxx, who grinned back slyly. "She starts to invade your space, doing everything that you did, maybe even doing it better. The rest of us start to look up to her as the new mother. What's your reaction on this?" Wendy thought for a moment, trying to place herself in that situation.

"I wouldn't like it too much. To put it subtly, I'd be pissed as hell,"

"Exactly. So maybe we need to cut both of you some slack. Trinity is very good at what she does, we all depend on her. You may be the new mother, but mother's need breaks too."

"Yeah, wes all like ya, Wendy. It's just 'dat Trinity has been doin' it foah a while. Maybe youse can only do tha 'tings like tuckin' us 'lil kids in an' tellin' stories or somethin'." Squeaks suggested in his heavy New York accent. He did have a point. Wendy loved to make up new stories, and she was a very good tucker in-er. She has had loads of practice on Amanda.

Wendy glanced at Peter. He was determinedly looking anywhere but at her. The ground and the walls seemed to be VERY interesting. _What has gotten in to him? He has more mood swings than me! First he was all lovey dovey on me, and then the thing in the clearing, and now he's not even LOOKING at me! Boys are so weird......Thank God I don't like them......yet......Wait, did I really just think that?_ Wendy blinked and saw many pairs of eyes peering back at her. Obviously they were waiting for an answer.

"Oh, um......Yes, Squeaks, I guess you could be right. I could try that and see how it works out."

"But we can't tell Trinity. If she knew we planned this, she would flip out. We just have to act normal, like nothing ever happened," Foxx said and glanced at everyone in turn. "Agreed?" The others nodded.

"Wendy, can I talk to you for a minute?" Peter asked her quietly after everyone dispersed and went about their business. Wendy was slightly taken aback and Peter must have seen this, for he smiled and said, "Don't worry. It won't take long," Speechless, Wendy nodded and Peter took her arm gently and led her over to the opposite side of the room. "Wendy, you know about Tiger Lily right?"

"Of course. You rescued her and Michael and John from the Black Castle and Hook," Peter grinned. "Why?"

"Well her nephew, Bear, is turning ten in a couple of days. And turning ten is a very big deal in their tribe. It shows that the boy is ready to become a man and handle the responsibilities, and since he is part of the royal family, he is expected to do great things," Peter explained.

"Not that this isn't......_fascinating_, but where does that leave me?" Wendy asked.

"I'm getting there," he responded indignantly. "Whenever something like this happens in the royal family, there is usually a big celebration about it and it usually comes down to a...a...Oh, what do you call those things where a bunch of people get together and they all dance and are dressed up in fancy gowns?"

"A ball, Peter,"

"Right! One of those! I have never been to one and Tiger Lily has invited me. Sort of like a thank you present for saving her life, I suppose," Peter rambled.

"I still don't see where I fit into this equation," Wendy drawled in an amused tone.

"Let me finish!" Peter was flustered, his cheeks were beginning to turn red and he kept fidgeting. "It is not only I that has been invited, Tiger Lily said that I could bring a guest. A date, as she put it," It was all starting to fit together in Wendy's head.

"So you want me to-?" she said slowly. Peter nodded.

"Would you like to be my date, Wendy?" She could see a flicker of hope in his enchanting eyes. _Me? To a royal ball? _She thought. She had read about the magnificent parties the kings and queens of the nineteenth century would hold in her History book, and she would often daydream of what it would be like to attend one. She would always imagine herself in a stunning gown that reached the floor with a small train attached, and glittering jewels of every kind and color would be upon her neck and wrists. Atop her head would be a small, yet simple and elegant, tiara made of shining white diamonds and her arrival to the party would be that like Cinderella's: Everyone wanting to know who she is, the beautiful maiden that had captured Peter's heart-

Wasn't it supposed to be a _prince_?

"What about a dress? You said it was in a couple of days right? I didn't really bring the right material for a ball,"

"Oh no, don't worry about that. I can just ask one of the Sewing Mistresses of the tribe to make you something. They can have it ready by tomorrow evening,"

"Really? That fast?"

"The Sewing Mistresses don't work just by themselves, you know. They have help from the mermaids and the fairies,"

"The mermaids? I thought they were dangerous," Peter shook his head.

"There is another mermaid kind, they dwell in the fresh waters of the lake here in the forest. Your great-grandmother never got the chance to meet them. I hope you will someday, they are much nicer than their cousins," He was back to referring Wendy's relative as her great-grandmother. Had he ever started? "So, will you come?"

There was a problem to this grand fantasy. She was confused whether or not she had certain feelings for Peter. He seemed to be backing off on the lovey dovey stuff, something which Wendy was entirely grateful for. He seemed awfully eager to take her to this ball. Should she be flattered? Oh, why did she always have to overanalyze things? What the hell......

Wendy smiled. "I would _love_ to go to the ball with you, Peter."

**

* * *

**

**AN: WHOO! Chapter 15 finished! _Finally_! I'm very happy with this chapter, as I hope you all are too. **

**AN-1: Let's just PRETEND that a couple of days have passed when in the "real world" a few _weeks _have passed. Okay, can we just go with that? LoL**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I would like to go over my 100 reviews marker, as that would make me extremely happy. Anyway, that's it for me. Please don't forget to review! I shall do shouts outs in the next chapter, I need sleep. Z.Z**

**Dreamless-Mermaid**


	16. Mother Dilemmas

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 16

**AN- I'm back! Yayness! :D Hehe. Sorry about the delay, but I FINALLY finished Bittersweet Goodbyes, my Newsies story, so go check that out if you like Newsies. Not too much to say here, but to enjoy this latest installment!**

* * *

The next few days passed as slow as could be, Wendy waiting eagerly for the big evening to arrive. True to his word, Peter flew to the Indians and asked Dream Weaver, the head Sewing Mistress, to spin a dress for Wendy. Dream Weaver grew a soft spot for Peter ever since he saved Tiger Lily from Hook all those years ago, Tiger Lily being Dream Weaver's only granddaughter.

"Just _one_ dress, Peter?" Dream Weaver had asked, smirking.

"What do you mean, Mistress?"

"I've been hearing things about another young girl hanging around there," Dream Weaver said, sewing together a dress, probably for some other young woman that was to attend the celebration. Peter bowed his head to hide his ever-growing red cheeks.

"That is Amanda, Wendy's sister. Wendy is the girl I wish you to make the dress for," Peter said clearly, willing his blush to disappear.

"I see. I thought they would be related somehow. And why aren't I make a dress for this Amanda child?" Dream Weaver asked, setting her sewing aside and picking up a new set of thread.

"Because I . . .Well, I did not invite her,"

"Do you think this wise?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Peter bit his tongue to keep from snapping at Dream Weaver. True, Peter was very fond of the old lady, but she sometimes got a little too much into other people's personal business. If he happened to get angry with her, Peter knew the dress would never get made and Wendy would never get to go to the ball, and he did not want that.

"Because I didn't think about it. I only wanted Wendy to come because I lo-" Peter stopped, midsentence. Dream Weaver glanced up from her sewing.

"Yes?" she urged. Peter could not bring himself to say it. _This_ Wendy was a lot different than his Wendy. Though true to the looks, their personalities were way off base. Present Wendy and Past Wendy both have a love of story telling. Present Wendy is more aggressive and more . . .sarcastic while Past Wendy was loving and forgiving, which is what drew Peter to her in the first place. Peter has never been loved, as much as he can remember, and when Past Wendy gave him that thimble . . .Emotions filled his heart that he could not describe.

Present Wendy was different. She was loving sometimes, yes, but the only reason he had acted the way he did was because of her features. The same pivoting blue eyes, the same chesnut brown hair, and the _exact same_ shade of rose of her lips. But as he grew to know this Present Wendy, he noticed that he wasn't falling in love with her looks, but with her. Granted the personality had changed, but change was good sometimes. He just did not want to admit to himself that he was in love with her because he knew he would have to give her up.

"Nothing, Mistress," Peter sighed. Dream Weaver simply shrugged.

"Okay, Peter. Two dresses it is," Peter paused and blinked.

"No, just the one,"

"Are you sure?" she tested.

" . . . Yes,"

"You don't sound sure,"

"Well, I am," Dream Weaver sighed.

"All right, then. _One_ dress will be ready by tomorrow evening,"

"Thank you, Mistress." Dream Weaver only nodded and she began to gather materials for the dress as Peter walked out of her hut and flew back to the Underground . . .Only to return a few minutes later, head bowed, that he would need two dresses after all. Wendy apparently told Amanda about the ball and Amanda was immediately entranced and begged Peter to let her come. Dream Weaver bit back the urge to tell him, "I told you so".

* * *

"Oh, Wendy, this ball is going to be simply wonderful. I can hardly wait!" Amanda exclaimed at dinner that evening. Fox and Peter had gone out hunting earlier and came back with a dead boar. Wendy wrinkled her nose and refused to cook it. That's when she remembered her agreement with Fox about Trinity. She had, for once, been in the Underground and Wendy offered the job to her. A bit surprised and suspicious, Trinity accepted and cooked the boar in less than thirty minutes. Wendy helped by dicing tomatoes, mushrooms, lettuce, and various fruits from the magical garden she found. She noticed Trinity was being wary of Wendy throughout making dinner, but that was to be expected.

"I can't wait either. What do you think our dresses our going to be like?" Wendy asked, equally excited.

"The finest silk-" Midget said.

"The rarest jewels-" Fidget said.

"The most sparkliest fairy dust-" Shyla said.

"And the most colorful thread-" Squeaks said.

"Anyone has ever seen!" All four concluded. Wendy, Amanda, Peter, and Fox laughed. Trinity mustered a tiny grin.

"Are you four going?" Amanda asked.

"No, Peter won't let us," Shyla complained.

"With good reason, too. You're too young," Peter said, stuffing his mouth with a huge strawberry.

"We're _always_ gonna be too young!" Midget exclaimed.

"Exactly! Which makes it even easier to say no," Peter said, grinning at the frowning faces of the children. "All right, well the next time something like this happens, I promise you four can go,"

"When will that be?" Fidget asked, setting his hand made fork down on his equally hand made plate.

"I don't know! The next time!" Peter said, flying up and picking up Fidget and tickling him in the air. Fidget squeaked with laughter.

"Ah, Peter! No fair! Okay, I give, I give!" Fidget cried and Peter reluctantly set him down in his chair. Everyone was laughing, except for Trinity, who rolled her eyes and began to gather everyone's plates to be washed. Wendy almost got up to help her, but, remembering the deal, sat glued to her chair.

Peter dismissed the little ones to go play outside before their bedtime and Wendy and Amanda went to Peter's room, where they were still sleeping, to look through Wendy's backpack. Before leaving for Neverland, Wendy remembered packing a few things in her traveling backpack. She didn't remember exactly _what_ she packed because at the time, she has been angry and just threw in whatever she came across. Unzipping her bag, she and Amanda sat on the bed and Wendy pulled out a pile of clothes first. Pink pant pajama bottoms, three shirts of some of her favorite bands, two pairs of bras and underwear ("Thank _God _I found these! I thought I would die without them!"), and her favorite pair of jeans. Pulling off her dirty Beatles nightshirt, she slipped on her pajama bottoms, bra, and a Kinks long sleeved shirt.

"Ah, much better! Do you think there's a watering hole or somewhere where I can wash this?" Wendy asked her sister, indicating the Beatles nightshirt as she tossed it behind her. Amanda nodded.

"There must be. We can go look tomorrow. What else do you have in there?" she asked curiously. Wendy picked up her bag again and brought out three novels: The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and The Color Purple by Alice Walker. They were all of her favorites, Wendy had read those particular three a million times over. Setting aside Their Eyes Were Watching God to read later, Wendy went back to her backpack. Nothing interesting was found except for her hairbrush and a few hair ties. Insisting that something good must be hidden away, Amanda opened a compartment that they didn't try and pulled out Wendy's CD player and CD case.

"Oh my, God! I can't believe those are still in there! I must have never taken them out from when we moved in," Wendy snatched her CD case up and hugged it, as if it had been lost.

"Let's listen to something!" Amanda said. Wendy nodded vigorously and opened her case.

"What do you want to listen to?" Wendy asked. The two browsed through the selection and finally ended up choosing a mixed CD. Popping it into her player, Wendy handed Amanda one little headphone while she put the other in her ear. Wendy pressed play and the first song was "Picture Book" by The Kinks. "I love this song!"

" . . . . Picture book, pictures of your mama, taken by your papa, a long time ago. Picture book, of people with each other, to prove they love each other, a long ago," Wendy and Amanda sang together. Growing up around Wendy's music, Amanda easily caught on and eventually began to grow into punk rock.

Amanda took out her small headphone and handed it to Wendy.

"I'm going to crash. Do you mind if I borrow a shirt?" Amanda asked, crawling over to the pile of clothing.

"Sure go ahead. Put your dirty clothes in my bag," Wendy said.

"Thanks." Amanda said, picking up a Ramones shirt and replacing her equally dirty shirt. She stuffed it into Wendy's backpack and snuggled up deep under the covers. Wendy smiled and moved everything off the bed, gathered her book that she set aside, and trudged into the other room with her book in one hand and her CD player in the other.

The living room to the Underground looked deserted and Wendy wondered where everyone had run off. Shrugging, she sat in Peter's chair at the head of the table and indulged herself in her book while listening to her CD.

* * *

Trinity was reclining in a canopy tree, surrounded by dark green moss, the cool wind blowing steadily through. Stars dotted the sky above her and peeked through the moss, winking merrily. Her thoughts were mulling over dinner, how nice Wendy was being. Very odd, she had thought. She then smirked.

_She must have realized that _I'm _the mother, she's only another Lost girl _she thought smugly. _But she didn't look like she wanted to be better than me. She looked . . .helpful, to say the least. I mean she let me prepare all the big things, while she kept to the little things. _Trinity sighed.

She couldn't help but go over what she had done, her betrayal to Peter. But Hook had promised to capture Wendy and kill _her_, not Peter. Looking back, Trinity was beginning to suspect of Captain Hook. Failing mind or not, she had a strong suspicion that he would go back on his promise and twist her words around somehow.

A rustle of the leaves made Trinity turn sharply, her dagger out, ready to attack, when a face popped up from behind a branch.

"Fox! Holy crap you scared me!" Trinity said, breathing a sigh of relief. Fox furrowed his brow together as he flew up and over the branch and landed next to Trinity.

"Trinity, were you going to kill me?" he motioned at the dagger. Trinity glanced at it and quickly stuffed it away.

"I might have. You could have been a pirate you know," Trinity muttered. Fox stole a quick glance at her.

"So, you heard? About the pirates being back and all?" he asked. Trinity nodded.

"Yeah, I saw them myself earlier today," _How ironic_ she thought miserably.

"What do you think of it?" Trinity thought a moment. What _did_ she think of the pirates coming back?

"I hate it," she answered honestly. "I hate pirates and I hate Hook," she added. Fox looked at her strangely.

"I know what Hook did to Peter in the past, and not that he isn't a bloodthirsty bastard, but what did he do to you?" Fox asked. "He _hasn't_ done anything to you has he? Because if he even tried I'll slit his throat," Fox jumped up and quick as a flash, his dagger was out and the blade glinted dangerously in the moonlight. Trinity blinked and looked up at Fox, looking down at her, a set glint in his eyes. Trinity had never seen Fox like this, so determined to defend her . . .or anyone for that matter. What had taken this sudden change?

"Fox, please, nothing has happened and nothing _will_ happen. Calm down," Trinity laughed, despite herself. Fox could be a real sweet guy sometimes. Which made Trinity think where _those_ sudden thoughts came from.

**

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**

**AN: Hmmm . . .wonder what's going on with Trinity and Fox. Well I guess you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out! Which I don't know when will be up, by the way. Heh. Anyway, shout outs, as always.**

**BetweenTwoWorlds, ASuckerForADudeWithAnAccent, Lady Dark Angel, Tidus' girl Candy, ezza, Nebula, doohicky, zorrina, and red**

**Thanks to everyone! I got a lot of reviews that time! That makes me happy! :D Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. And if you like Newsies, I some of you do because you put it in your reviews, then I am planning on writing a Christmas one shot Newsies story. So go check that out. It's not up yet, but when it does be sure to read it, please! Thanks again!**

**P.S.- I do not own any of the three books mentioned and I definately do not own The Kinks. I LOVE THAT SONG THOUGH! I was listening to it when I was writing this and decided to use it. LoL.**


	17. Mermaids

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 17

**AN: Last update was December 20th . . . Wow that's REALLY bad. I'm sorry, guys. I have no excuse, except for not being motivated to write. Don't you hate it when that happens? I don't have writers block ((OMG THAT'S EVEN WORSE!)) I know what I want to write, but actually sitting down and doing it . . .**

**Anyway, you can hate me, I'll understand. But hate me after you read this chapter and review, okay? **

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After dinner, Peter watched Wendy and Amanda wander off to his bedroom and the little ones scamper outside for a bit of playing, with Fox getting the job of watching them, while he spied Trinity flying up and out of the hole. Deciding to follow her, Peter flew up and out and saw Trinity fly to a nearby canopy tree. He was about to go talk to her when he heard a burst of loud, dog-like laughter coming from behind him. He turned and saw the Jolly Roger, her white sails flying freely in the winds, floating in the bay and a few lights appeared in the windows.

"Let's see what you're up to, Hook, you old codfish," Peter mumbled, forgetting about Trinity and flying toward the Jolly Roger. He flew lower as he got closer and could see more than a dozen men on deck, circled around two men, one tall the other short, and an old wooden desk. Peter crouched so that he was looking over the brim of the ship while still floating.

"Gentlemen! The time has come for revenge on that flying brat!" Hook called out to his men. Peter rolled his eyes.

_Why does that not surprise me? Hook comes back from the dead and he wants to kill me _Peter thought sarcastically. The pirates let out a cheer.

"He took away my life, my memory, and my desire to kill. If it wasn't for Smee," Hook indicated the small man next to him. "I wouldn't be here, in front of you all, about to divulge once again, into the mystery that is Peter Pan." The pirate's cheers were louder than ever as they gathered closer around their captain.

_He's crazier than before I killed him! _Peter thought.

"Men, you know of what lye's beyond, in the coming days. A certain celebration that is to be held on our island," Hook spoke quietly and Peter had to concentrate harder and block out any unnecessary noise so he could hear him. "The girl has agreed to help us, she will be waiting here," Peter could only guess that Hook was pointing to something on the table. "Here is where we come in and make our attack," Now Peter could hear paper being rolled up. "With any luck we'll capture some fairies, along with some pesky children, and suck them dry of their magic." Peter watched them as they dispersed among the ship. "Your training begins tomorrow! The Indians are very skilled with their weapons so we must prepare. No one is to disturb me whilst I am in my cabin."

"Yes, sir!" The men chanted. Hook pushed the wooden table to one side as he took a piece of rolled up parchment clutched in one hand; he traveled to his cabin and slammed the door behind him. The pirates began to settle down and talk amongst themselves, no doubt about the big plans their captain had just revealed.

Peter turned and took to the sky, leaving the ship behind. He wasn't stupid, he knew perfectly well what Hook and the pirates were planning: They were going to raid the ball. But why? Who was the girl that was to help them? Whatever was going to happen, Peter would be there and ready to fight.

He would have told the others of what he learned, but when he arrived back at the Underground, the lights were blown out and everyone was asleep. This was a subject that was best left until tomorrow.

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The next morning, Wendy woke early and found Amanda snuggled up next to her, still asleep. She remembered that she had wanted and early start to find a watering hole to wash her clothes (and maybe a decent bath) and had mentally set her alarm clock. Wendy hated the things. All the buzzing and beeping was just not a pleasant thing to be awakened by, so she decided to set her mental alarm clock. Every night before she went to bed, she would repeat over and over in her mind of what time she needed to be up. She never expected it to work, but when it did she threw out the alarm clock and used her own method. It has never failed her yet.

Sitting up, she drew back the blanket and was met with a chilly draft. Wendy gasped, shivered, and pulled the blanket over her body. She wasn't expecting an early morning cold front. Putting bravery to the test, she launched herself from the bed and grabbed an extra blanket in the corner of the room. Still shivering, she walked over to her backpack and threw in her dirty clothes, CD player and CD case. If she was going to wash her clothes she needed entertainment.

She remembered that Amanda wanted to go, so Wendy walked back to the bed and shook her sister's shoulder.

"Mmmm . . .What?" Amanda mumbled from beneath the comfort of her blanket.

"You said you wanted to come with me to find a watering hole. So get up," Wendy said.

"Now?" Amanda whined.

"Yes, now. I set my mental alarm for about eight, so I'm assuming that, if there were any clocks around here, it'd be eight. Come on, sleepy head,"

"I didn't _specifically _say I wanted to go. I just said 'we should go look for one', meaning _you _should go, and _I_ get the warm bed to myself," Wendy rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak nine year old. Suit yourself then, but I was going to go explore the island a bit more," Wendy got up and grabbed her backpack when she heard Amanda sigh loudly and shift around.

"_Fine_, I'll go since you want me to," Wendy smirked triumphantly. Amanda almost shouted when she pulled the blanket off of her and scampered back underneath them. Wendy sighed, put her backpack down, and took off the blanket around her shoulders.

"Don't be such a baby, Mandy. You've experienced colder. Here take this, it helps," Wendy said as she tossed the blanket to Amanda, who wrapped it around her small shoulders.

A few moments later and Wendy and Amanda landed outside the Underground and found the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. The pink light radiating from the sun touched the leaves of the trees, plants, and every blade of grass lightly, giving all of them a rose tint mixed in with their emerald green.

As the two sisters moved throughout the forest, weaving their way through trees and vines, the sun steadily grew higher and as its rays passed over the flowers, the enchanting plants awakened from their slumber. Their petals opened as one, the flower shivered as if it had stretched, and it came to rest. It seemed as if the whole forest was awakening: Fairies were starting to flit from tree to tree, calls of wild birds echoed around them, and Wendy swore she heard a lion roar in the distance.

Finally after much walking, but hardly any speaking, Amanda and Wendy pushed their way through a rather thick string of vines and found themselves in front of a large pond. The water was sparkling blue and green, glinting marvelously from the sunlight above, more trees surrounded the pond and a running waterfall lay just beyond. The girls looked at each other, smiled, and charged to the pond.

"This place is beautiful! It's really a lucky find," Amanda said, pulling off her shirt and underwear and diving into the fresh water. "It's so clear! Deep, too, for a pond." She said when she came up for air. Wendy laughed and made her way over to a large rock where she sat, pulled out her dirty clothes, and dipped them in the water.

"I wish I had some soap or something to make these smell good. Now would be the time to improvise. Let's see . . ." Wendy looked around her for something, anything, that could act as soap. Spotting a purple flower, she stood up, jumped off the rock and made her way over to it. She bent down on her knees and leaned in closer to examine it. The flower _looked _harmless, its petals a deep violet and its stem a very unusual pink. A pouch of some sort grew in the middle and Wendy poked it experimentally. When nothing happened, Wendy picked the flower and walked back to her spot on the rock. Spreading out her now wet Beatles nightshirt, she lightly squeezed the pouch thing and purple slime came oozing out.

_Great, slime for soap. How useful _Wendy thought sarcastically. Maybe it had a smell, so she put her finger with the slime on it under her nose and sniffed. It smelled like plums and grapes and wild berries. It was like a brand new perfume at the mall.

"It doesn't _smell _bad. Well, here goes nothing," Wendy said and squeezed some more slime onto the shirt. She picked it up and rubbed it together to create some bubbles. After three minutes of washing, she dipped the shirt into the water, let it soak to get all the bubbles and foam off, and pulled it out only to find that the soap had dyed it purple.

"Wendy, what did you do!" Amanda laughed when she swam up to her. Wendy's eyes widened.

"I don't know! The flower's slime made it purple!" Wendy pointed to the sinister flower next to her. Amanda giggled. "Amanda, this is not funny! This is my favorite nightshirt!" She whined, staring helplessly at the shirt.

"I didn't say anything," Amanda said.

"You didn't giggle?" Amanda shook her head.

"No."

"Then who. . .?" Wendy started. The mysterious giggle came again from their right and the girls whipped their heads around. Nothing. Another giggle came from their left this time and Wendy and Amanda turned their heads to see a girl with emerald green hair pop out of the water. Amanda shouted and scampered out of the water and climbed up the rock to hide herself behind the safety of her sister. The green haired girl smiled at them, cocked her head to one side and spoke.

"Hello, human," she said, her voice as smooth as silk. Amanda whimpered.

"Mandy, hush, I'm sure she's harmless," Wendy muttered to Amanda.

"You don't know that," Amanda hissed. A light laugh came from behind the sisters on the rock. Amanda glanced behind her. "AH! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" Wendy looked behind her and saw another girl but she had bright, bubble gum pink hair.

"You humans are very skittish," said the pink haired girl.

"Just my sister," Wendy replied. The pink haired girl floated over to the green haired girl.

"I'm Jade," the green haired girl introduced.

"And I'm Rose," greeted the pink haired girl. Wendy smiled.

"I'm Wendy and this is my sister Amanda," Wendy said, pointing to the still hiding Amanda behind her. Jade and Rose smiled their greetings. "Uhm . . .What are you, exactly?"

"We're mermaids, the kind that live in fresh water," Jade said.

"See?" Rose and Jade lifted their brightly colored green and pink tails out of the water.

"Oh! Peter told me about your kind!" Wendy said. Jade and Rose glanced at each other and burst into giggle fits.

"Peter _Pan_?" Rose said.

"Uhm . . .Yes?" Wendy said skeptically.

"You know Peter?" Jade asked.

"We live with him," Amanda blurted.

"Oh, are you a new Lost?" Rose asked.

"Sort of. Mandy is-"

"I am not!"

"I'm kind of the new mother . . .So to speak," Wendy carried on.

"Oh yeah, she tucks everyone in at night while Trinity does the cooking, cleaning, hunting and practically everything else. So, yes Wendy is _definitely_ the new mother," Amanda said sarcastically. Wendy turned and glared down at her.

"Do you _want _a death wish?"

"Already had one, remember? When the others attempted to DROWN me! Need I remind you?" Amanda shot back.

"What others?" Rose asked seriously, her smile gone. Wendy looked back at them.

"The other mermaids at Mermaid Lagoon. Do you know of them?" Wendy asked. Rose and Jade glanced at each other and nodded.

"They're my stepsisters," Rose admitted.

"Those horrible _things_ are related to you?" Amanda said. Wendy shushed her.

"No, no, it's okay, Amanda. They truly are horrible. You see, before my mother died-" Rose started.

"Queen Davina, may she rest in peace," Jade chanted.

"Yes. Before she died, our family used to live in Mermaid Lagoon. When my father remarried, he chose _their _mother. Our families never got along, we still don't to this day, and when my stepmother died, the others ran us out of our home and we had to make a living here, adapting to fresh water," Rose continued.

"That's awful!" Wendy said.

"Why don't you fight back? You know, reclaim your land or whatever?" Amanda asked.

"We would, but ever since my stepmother died, my father has done nothing but mope around the kingdom. He keeps complaining how he misses Mermaid Lagoon but he won't do anything about it!" Rose cried.

"I notice you don't say, 'Queen whoever, may she rest in peace' whenever Rose mentions her stepmother," Amanda said to Jade.

"That's because she was an evil woman. Rotten to the core. Everyone knew she only married King Mercer because of his status. She figured she'd marry a king and when he died she would get all the glory of becoming queen," Jade said bitterly.

"Only she kicked the bucket before he did. I bet she wasn't planning that one," Wendy said. Rose and Jade smiled.

"Those stepsisters of yours are wicked through and through. We'll help you get Mermaid Lagoon back!" Amanda said. Wendy turned to her.

"We'll do _what_?" Wendy said in disbelief. Rose and Jade looked at each other skeptically.

"No, no, think about it! Rose and her family were there first, right?"

"Right," Rose said.

"And we know of a certain boy who thrives on adventure. Peter hasn't had a good battle since great-grandmother Wendy, I imagine. This will be good for him, give him his spirit back,"

"Mandy, he hasn't lost it to begin with! Are you out of your mind? Those mermaids have powers that none of us are capable of handling and you want everyone to just declare war?"

"That's a grand idea!" Rose said. Wendy and Amanda stopped arguing and looked at Rose, eyebrows raised.

"It is?" Wendy asked.

"Peter doesn't need his spirit back, but father does! Mind you he wouldn't like fighting his stepdaughters, but once he killed one he'd _definitely _fight for his home," Rose said.

"Is killing really necessary?" Wendy asked worriedly.

"Of course it is. Those nasty things don't belong in Neverland," Amanda said.

"But we'd be upsetting the balance! There can't be just good without a little bit of badness thrown in," Wendy debated.

"How would you like it if one of the Lost wandered to Mermaid Lagoon and was drowned like I was?" Amanda said.

"They know better, Peter has told them repeatedly not to go wandering around there," Wendy shot back.

"What about new Lost members?"

"That doesn't matter! Peter would _still _warn them!"

"LADIES!" Rose shouted above the argument. Wendy and Amanda stopped immediately. "I see Wendy's point. A place of just good would throw off Neverland's balance, as odd as that might sound. Maybe a war is necessary but a negotiation is certainly called for. Jade," Rose turned to her friend. "Please swim back to the kingdom and propose the idea of an agreement between our oh so lovely family for our home back to my father. If he refuses, come collect me immediately,"

"I'd be delighted to, Rose," Jade said. She bowed her head before she dived into the water, her tail whipping in and out of sight.

"Wow, you sure have authority," Amanda said. Rose shrugged.

"That's what I get for being a princess, even if I am second in line. Jade is one of my ladies' in waiting and my best friend," Rose explained.

"Second? Then who's first?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Roselyn!" A voice shouted. Rose winced.

"How many times have I told you to _not _call me Roselyn?" Rose seethed.

"I've lost count after 500," said another girl as she swam up to Rose. She had dark blue hair and looked to be a few years older than Rose. The newly arrived girl looked Wendy and Amanda up and down suspiciously. They grinned back nervously.

"Girls, this is my sister Tariana, first in line to the throne. Tari, this is Wendy," Rose introduced, pointing to Wendy. "and this is Amanda," she waved at Tariana.

"Hello," Tariana said shortly and turned back to Rose. "Where have you been? Our interview with the _Pearl _is in an hour. You haven't even gotten ready!" Tariana exclaimed. She wore a rather beautiful flower in her hair and Wendy squinted and could see a bit of what looked like waterproof makeup donned her face.

"Oh, is that today? I thought I'd just skip it," Rose said. Tariana frowned.

"You've known about this for weeks. We can't put off anymore interviews, father is counting on us!"

"I know, but those sharks at the _Pearl _are horrid. Do I have to?" Rose whined. Tariana sighed.

"Yes. Now say goodbye to your friends and come along," Tariana turned and dove back in.

"I'm sorry about this, girls. The papers have been hounding Tariana and I for interviews, that's the price I pay for being royalty," Rose said.

"Oh, that's all right. Before you go, do you have anything to get this stain out?" Wendy asked, showing Rose her purple nightshirt. Rose nodded and held out her hand. A few seconds later, a small bar of white soap appeared in her palm and she handed it to Wendy.

"You'll want to be careful around those flowers. The purple ones with the pink stems dye everything, the green ones with the blue stems are poisonous. Those are the only ones you'll have to watch, but the rest are harmless. I think there's one that can cure diseases and wounds and I've heard a rumor that there's even one that can bring back the dead. I don't believe it but-" Rose rambled.

"Roselyn! Now!" Tariana's disembodied voice shouted. Everyone jumped.

"Sorry, I have to go," Rose apologized.

"We'll come back tomorrow about the negotiation!" Amanda said. Rose nodded and bid the two of them farewell before diving into the water and disappearing.

**

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****AN: YAY! Another chapter successfully completed. Shout outs!**

**ezza, olifantje-emma, longblacksatinlace, Angelic Pirate ((You've been with me from that start! YAY YOU!)) EuGIeBeAr, and red**

**I'm sorry that these "shout outs" aren't like other shout outs you've seen, but I started this since the first chapter and I've decided to keep it going. Anyway, a few things you may have noticed that aren't mine:**

"**Queen Davina, may she rest in peace," Jade chanted. – I got that from Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. If you've seen it, you know how the people always go, "King Rupert ((I think that was his name)) may he rest in peace" whenever someone mentioned his name? Yeah that's where it came from.**

**"Those stepsisters of yours are wicked through and through…." – wicked through and through is from the musical, "Wicked". GREATEST MUSICAL EVER! You should be proud of me, Red. Hehe.**

**Anyway, I'm sorry this took so long! But it's out now! Now if only I could say the same for my other stories . . .PLEASE REVIEW!**

**DreamlessMermaid**


	18. The Dresses and the Messes

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 18

**AN: It's me, I'm back again! I watched _Peter Pan _((the 2003 version mind you)) yesterday and I got so inspired that I planned out this chapter and 19 and half of 20 as well. Now I just have to find the time to sit down and write them. Anyway, hope you enjoy this latest installment!**

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After Rose left and Wendy and Amanda decided to bathe for another minute or two, they got out of the water, put on their clothes, and headed back into the forest. By this time, the sun was already halfway to the sky and the cold weather that had started out was gone, replaced by blazing heat and humidity.

"Why is it so hot?" Amanda whined, wiping her brow of sweat.

"Probably because we're in the densest part of the jungle." Wendy observed and looked around. Indeed they were surrounded with millions of trees, the tops so huge that not a hint of sunlight could get through.

"Let's go back to the pond. There's plenty of water there and air so we can breathe." Amanda suggested wearily.

"No, we need to keep going. We can't stay there all day, we'd be bored out of our minds." Wendy said, moving a vine out of the way as they walked.

"Here's an idea. Why don't we just fly out of here? This IS Neverland after all." Amanda said sarcastically and swatted a bug on her arm. Wendy sighed.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, but you know as well as I do that the pixie dust has worn off and despite what Peter says, happy thoughts _won't _make you fly. Even if we ARE in Neverland."

"Holy crap, Wendy! When did you die and be replaced with such a pessimistic attitude?" Amanda stopped walking and plopped down on a huge trunk. Wendy whipped around.

"Watch that mouth, Mandy," Wendy warned. Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Please. Crap is not a bad word."

"I don't care, you're not to say it around me, understood?"

"Got it, mum. That's who you're starting to sound like you know." Amanda saluted sarcastically. Wendy froze. The mere mention of their mother had never been brought up since Amanda arrived and hearing the word made her stop.

"Take that back." Wendy muttered.

"What? You are."

"DON'T mention mum. _Ever_. We're in Neverland now and while we're here, you listen to me, got it?" Wendy almost growled. She HATED it whenever someone compared her to her mother, especially hearing it from her sister. Amanda blinked. Wendy had never spoken to her like that before.

"But Peter's the leader. I thought I was supposed to-"

"Screw Peter! You're MY sister, MY responsibility. You're the one that chose to go with him in the first place. If you came here expecting me to be just like mum, think again because I will NEVER be like her." Wendy shouted. Amanda became dead silent and just watched Wendy breathe deeply like she had just got done sprinting. Flames were almost in Wendy's eyes and Amanda didn't know whether she should be hurt or angry. Well, for one thing, Amanda had never been spoken to like that before, especially from the one person she adored, so of course she'd be hurt. On the other hand, she was angry that Wendy could ever THINK such a thing. Amanda hadn't _meant _to call Wendy 'mum', it just sort of came out. Besides, she was being sarcastic. That was who Amanda was, she couldn't help it.

The two of them stared at each other, neither one wanting to speak first, but Amanda eventually did.

"Wendy, I'm sorry." Amanda said quietly.

"You should be. Now come on, let's get moving." Wendy said with finality in her voice, signaling that the conversation was over. She turned and started to tramp on through the jungle. Amanda stood up and walked a small distance behind her sister, not wanting to risk the wrath of Wendy.

They trudged onward, swatting bugs off their skin, sidestepping mounds of quicksand, and constantly moving vines or leaves out of their way. Through all of this, Wendy had cooled off considerably and apologized to Amanda for yelling at her, but to not mention their mother again. After Amanda's agreement they made small talk, mostly if they thought people back home missed them. The subject was quickly changed to wondering if their dresses for the ball were finished yet and that if they would have to pick them up themselves or if Peter were to do it. Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking and fighting off nature, the two stumbled upon an open clearing. The area was sprinkled with white teepees and several Indians were milling about.

Wendy and Amanda couldn't help but stare at everything from the dead animals hanging from wooden poles over fires, to the Indians themselves. They were all dressed in long robed looking outfits that were moccasin material, headbands with feathers of different size and colour, and a few had paint markings upon their face or chest, the ones that weren't wearing the robes. A few young children ran in front of them, giggling and laughing, chasing after swarms of butterflies.

"Well, now that we're here we might as well look for our dresses. What do you think?" Wendy said amusedly, thinking how ironic this was. Amanda nodded.

"I suppose we should. Where should we start looking?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess we could just walk around and try and ask someone, although I don't know how much english they'll know." Wendy admitted. Amanda shrugged.

"If Peter can talk to them, they must know a bit right?" Wendy paused.

"That's true. Okay, come on." So they started off into the camp, making their way slowly through. They tried to ask a few people, but they just stared at the girls, Wendy and Amanda occasionally making hand motions, and after a while the people just gave up and walked away. After five minutes to trying to get someone, anyone's attention, Wendy accidentally bumped into a rather tall, beautiful woman. "Oh! Excuse me! I'm so sorry!"

The woman looked down and Wendy was met with penetrating brown eyes and a kind smile. "That is all right," she said.

"You speak english!" Amanda said happily. The mysterious woman nodded.

"A little." She replied.

"Enough to know where we might find two dresses, oh about, our sizes?" Wendy asked, pointing to Amanda and herself.

"I knew you'd come," the woman smiled brightly and pointed above the girls' heads. "Over there, in that tent."

"Thank you!" Amanda said, grabbed Wendy's hand, and led them away. The woman gave a curt nod, turned, and was gone.

"Mandy, what do you think she meant 'I knew you'd come'?" Wendy asked. Amanda shrugged.

"I don't know and I don't particularly care. I just want to know what my dress looks like." Amanda said shortly. They came upon the desired tent and wandered in cautiously.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Wendy called. A rustle was heard to their right and an old woman emerged from the shadows.

"Hello. I knew you'd come." The old woman greeted.

"First that other woman and now you? HOW did you know we were coming?" Wendy said, getting a little irritated. The old woman laughed.

"Not to worry, Wendy, I have what you and your sister are looking for." The old woman said, turning her back to them and completely ignoring Wendy's question. Wendy huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, only to unfold them seconds later at the sight that was brought out before her eyes. There they were, the dresses and oh what gorgeous dresses they were. Soft to the touch and glittered with jewels and sparkles, Wendy felt like she really _was _a princess that was getting handed her very first dress.

Wendy's dress was made of the softest silk in Neverland and was coloured a shimmering silver. Two simple straps were to be worn at the shoulders and another thin strap was sewed around the waist that held three shiny diamonds in a vertical angle. Ending just under the diamonds, the dress spread out in the front to make a second layer and underneath was what looked like the very galaxy had been captured and made to the dress. Spirals of gold and sprinkles of glitter were interlaced so that, in the right light, is simply sparkled. The whole dress, after being held up to her, ended exactly at the floor and even had a small train.

Amanda's dress, after being tried on from her excitement, was also made of the same silk material, only was an enchanting emerald green. Her straps were off the shoulders and a delicate long sleeve covered her arms. At the top of the dress, five emeralds were held in place, this time in a horizontal fashion. The whole dress ended at exactly the same place as Wendy's and was even given very delicate pleats and another very small train.

"These are _beautiful_, how can we ever thank you?" Wendy said, breathtakingly. The old woman smiled and was very proud that these girls loved her creations.

"You don't have to thank me, I love what I do," she said.

"How much-" Amanda started. The old woman held up her hand.

"I do this for free. But thank you for offering," Wendy and Amanda smiled and Amanda took off her dress carefully and slipped back into her other clothes. "When shall I set up your appointment?"

"I'm sorry?" Wendy said.

"Your appointment to get your hair and face treatment," said the old woman as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, Wendy, that sounds like so much fun! Let's do it!" Amanda gushed.

"No, I don't think-" Wendy started hesitantly.

"Please?" Amanda whined. Wendy paused.

"Okay fine. How about . . .when the sun is very high in the sky the day of the ball?" Wendy suggested. Hey, she didn't own and watch and she was pretty sure the Indians didn't own one either. Would watches even work in Neverland?

"So around noon time?" The old woman asked. She laughed at the look on Wendy's face and replied simply, "We have a sundial."

"Oh! Okay, yeah, sure. Noon it is." Wendy said. Her and Amanda thanked the old woman again and again. Before they left, Wendy had a sudden thought. "Would it be all right if I invited Tinkerbell? I mean, I know _I _was invited and I'm not sure I can invite someone else, but I'm sure she'd love to go. I can make her dress, even."

"I don't see why not. I'll ask my granddaughter if we may have another guest." She agreed. Wendy smiled and thanked the old woman again and this time, Amanda and Wendy left happier than ever.

* * *

"Tiger Lily!" A voice shouted. A woman looked up from her sewing.

"Yes, Trinity?" She asked kindly, even at the harshness of the shout. Trinity came storming into Tiger Lily's tent and stopped directly in front of the young woman. Tiger Lily sat on the floor with a little boy, teaching him how to sew.

"You have to move the ball somewhere else. I can't tell you why but please trust me on this!" Trinity said desperately. She had been mulling over it for awhile and was utterly disgusted with herself that she would even THINK of putting Peter in that much danger. Granted she still disliked Wendy, she didn't want her _killed_. Not anymore. So here she was, trying to persuade Tiger Lily to change the location of the ball, all while trying not to spill the beans of what she had reduced herself to do. Tiger Lily set down the sewing and stood up calmly.

"Why?"

"Because . . .just because. Please, you've got to do this. Move it somewhere undetectable, a place that no one on this island knows about,"

"And where do you propose I move it? I certainly don't know a place like that,"

"I don't know!" Trinity said shrilly. "Anywhere! Somewhere! Away from pirates!" she clapped a hand over her mouth and Tiger Lily stared at Trinity suspiciously.

"Trinity, what is going on?"

"I can't tell you, but please, please, PLEASE move the ball. Have I ever led you wrong before?" Trinity was now on her knees, begging like she was begging for her life.

"No, but I cannot move it, even if _I_ wanted to. Everything will be set up, we have too many plans. If I change it now everything will be ruined. I'm sorry," Tiger Lily said sadly, sounding truly sorry. She sighed. "Please don't look at me like that, you know I mean it." Trinity stood up.

"Okay, well then just have tighter security, at least do _that_." Tiger Lily nodded.

"That I _can_ do." Trinity smiled half-heartedly. There was one more stop she had to make before returning home. . .

Trinity ran out of the tent and through the forest once again, hoping to spot a fairy on the way. She did, picked it up, ignoring its shrieks and protests, and shook fairy dust all over herself. She set the tiny pixie back in its tree and flew up and out onto the open sea. The Jolly Roger was dead ahead and raucous and spine tingling laughter was heard as she drew closer. Being brave, she flew right over the open deck and called down to the men.

"I need to speak to Hook!" The pirates gave a start and looked around wildly for the disembodied voice. Trinity sighed. Boy they were stupid. "Up here you idiots!" All at once, they looked up and started firing their pistols. "WHOA! I just need to talk to Hook, not get shot, thank you very much!" She dodged bullet after bullet, the pirates obviously ignoring her command, as they continued shooting. Suddenly a door opened and Hook himself came striding out of his cabin.

"Stop, stop, STOP! Don't fire you bloody dogs!" Hook boomed over the shooting. The pirates stopped as they were commanded and lowered their weapons. Hook looked up at Trinity. "What do you need, me hearty? Come to join us humble pirates already? I thought it wasn't until AFTER I caught Wendy that you were to join us."

"That's the thing, Hook. I don't want to be a pirate anymore. I've given it some thought and all it really is is jealousy. Besides, I'm getting quite fond of Wendy now," This, of course, was a lie but it was the only way to break the deal. Hook laughed like it was all some big joke.

"You can't just back out of a deal, Trinity,"

"Can't I? We never signed anything so unless I see something in writing, I'm backing out," Trinity said triumphantly, knowing she had won. Hook looked away, knowing she was right.

"Damn. Why didn't _I _think of that? I was so good at making deals," he muttered. He looked up at Trinity again, and his eyes flashed. "I want Pan, child, and you're going to personally hand deliver him to me! Or be it your head!" Hook shouted. Trinity laughed.

"I really doubt that, considering you don't even KNOW where the ball is being held!"

"That's where you're wrong. I know every detail down to the guest list," Trinity's eyes widened and that moment of triumph, that moment of feeling that she had saved everyone, depleted. "I know everything, Trinity, but good try, I do give you credit for that."

"You bastard! You leave them alone!" She dove at Hook, snatching her dagger that was hidden in her pants and held it out. In one swift motion Hook unsheathed his sword and held it up in front of him, just as Trinity came down on him. Their blades clashed and they were face to face, Trinity's dagger being pushed into Hook's blade and vice versa.

"You're a good fighter, pity you won't become a pirate anytime soon," Hook murmured so that only she could hear him. She glared at him.

"I'd rather die." Hook grinned viciously.

"I bet you would. Well, we know _that _can be arranged." Hook pushed with all his strength upon Trinity's dagger and she tried to push back but he was much stronger than her. The blade bent back just enough so that it cut her skin. She made no noise, only shut her eyes tight and took the pain as the blade slide further down her arm, cutting deep and leaving a trail of blood. Finally having enough, Trinity pushed back and flew up and out of Hook's sword quickly.

"I swear to God, Hook, if you even attempt to capture Peter, I will personally kill you myself." Trinity shouted down to him, turned, and flew away to the loud laughter of the pirates.

* * *

Wendy and Amanda arrived at the Underground, finally, still in tact with the dresses, and made their way carefully through the holes. Upon entering the Home they found everyone to be awake and sitting around the table eating fruit or sitting in front of the fireplace, playing with whittled toys that Squeaks made.

"You're back!" Shyla said, leaping into Wendy's arms. She laughed and she tried to hug the little girl around the dress. Shyla pulled back and took a part of the dress and held it gently in her tiny hands. "Wow, this is really pretty. Whoever made this did a REALLY good job."

"Not just a good job but a _great _job," Amanda said and tickled Shyla. She giggled. "Come on, Wendy, let's go hang these up so they don't get dirty." Wendy nodded and was amazed that a little over and hour ago her and Amanda had gotten into a fight and were not speaking to each other. Now here they were, acting like nothing had ever happened. Of course they had both wanted it that way, but it was still hard to believe.

"Wendy," Peter called before her and Amanda entered the bedroom. Wendy turned to face him, her stomach doing a back flip. "I just thought you should know that I've made the proper holes for you and Amanda," he pointed behind him to two holes about the same size.

"That's great!" Wendy said happily. Peter cleared his throat.

"You guys can still have my room though, I'm getting pretty used to sleeping in front of the fireplace."

"Is that where you've been sleeping? That's awful! You should build yourself another bed." Amanda said but Peter shook his head.

"It's okay, I'm used to it. Plus there's no place for another bed, even if I _did _want to build one." Wendy nodded understandingly.

"Peter, is Tinkerbell home?" Wendy asked, pointing to a hole that was covered up by a huge leaf. Peter nodded.

"She should be, I haven't seen her all day. Why?" Wendy hesitated.

"Well, I thought it might be nice if she went to the ball with us. I asked the old woman that gave us our dresses if she could come and she said it was okay." Peter nodded, thinking how Wendy has changed, thinking of others before her self. Wendy walked over to the side o Tink's apartment and called softly to her. "Tink? Tinkerbell? Are you home?" A short jangle replied. "Please come out, I've got something great to tell you."

Tink emerged slowly and looking at Wendy suspiciously. She gave a ring as if to say rudely, "What?"

"I've asked the old woman that gave Amanda and I our dresses if you could come to the ball with us. Would you like to go? I can make your dress and everything," Wendy said, hoping that Tink accepted the offer. Tink beamed and shot up into the air, jingling and ringing happily. Wendy laughed, pleased that for once she could do something for the tiny pixie.

Peter watched the scene as if he were back at the magical well and looking at a picture. Wendy and Tink laughing together, Amanda playing happily with the others and he realized that he did not want this moment to end. Ever.

* * *

**AN – I KNOW this ending sucked but I'm gong to California tomorrow and I wanted this chapter up before I left. Well, its about 12.30 here, I really need sleep, and I rushed this ending because it wasn't finished. I am really sorry, that's not like me at all. I don't have time for shout outs, but you know who you are if you reviewed last time. Thanks! See ya in chapter 19!**

**DreamlessMermaid**


	19. The Confrontation

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 19

**AN – I feel so horrible because I had forgotten which chapter I was writing. Also, I really want to start a new idea that's been hopping around in my head for a while and it won't leave me alone. Damn plot bunnies. So, I'm trying to get this done as fast as I can because I don't want to start another multi-chaptered one while I still had THIS under my belt. Know what I mean? I know, for some of you Newsies fans, "What about N2004? Or BotB?" but I just don't have ANY desire to write those right now. I'm sure you guys know what it's like so I'm hoping you'll understand. **

**Anyway. This chapter isn't as rushed as the last one because I'm not gallivanting off to California again until August 6th so I have much more time to write this. I hope you enjoy this latest installment! ((bows humbly)) **

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The harsh wind whipped in her face as she flew, the pirates' laughter still echoing in her ears. Dagger in one hand, she pressed her hand to her wound and tried to put pressure to it to recede the blood flow. It was working somewhat, but the gash was too deep and she was loosing a lot of blood, no matter how hard she squeezed her arm, and she was beginning to feel lightheaded.

The light around Trinity was beginning to dim and she glanced to her right to see the sun slowly setting, lighting up the sky in its usual pink and orange hues. She saw the beach just ahead of her and suddenly got very dizzy and her vision a little blurry. She looked down and saw that she had accidentally let go of her arm and crimson coloured blood was oozing quickly out of her laceration. Clutching her arm again, she couldn't stay in the air any longer and she landed on the beach and stumbled forward onto the sand.

She lay there for a bit, breathing slowly, her heart rate jumping up to twice as fast as it normally beats, and she knew she couldn't linger in the sand too long for fear of infecting her cut. Groaning, she cursed Hook with every word she knew and her legs felt like lead when she attempted to stand. They felt even heavier, as if someone attached ten-pound cannon balls to them, when she took two steps forward. But she dragged on, her sights set on the Underground. Even if Wendy was there, and Trinity had no doubt in her mind she would be, she needed rest, food, and medical attention.

Five minutes later after a grueling march through the forest, she came upon the huge tree that was her home and walked slowly around to the other side where the proper hole was.

"Ugh, can't we all have one that's, say, at the _bottom_ of the trunk!" Trinity mumbled and with the last ounce of magic and strength she could muster, she flew up just enough so that she could slide through. She tumbled to the floor and stood up as quickly as she could, but no one even noticed she had come in. _Figures, but I can't blame them really. It's not as though I've exactly BEEN here_, she thought. At that moment, Squeaks turned around and did exactly what he was christened as. He squeaked.

"Trinity!" He shouted and made a mad dash around the table to hug her. All eyes in the room looked up at his shout and flitted over to the pair of them, Squeaks crushing Trinity in his excitement.

"Hi, Squeaks," she said in a strained voice. "It's good to see you too, but please let go of me."

"Oh, sorry." Squeaks said, blushing. He hadn't realized how hard he had been hugging her or how much he missed her.

"What happened to your arm?" Midget said, walking quickly around the table in the same fashion as Squeaks had done. She took Trinity's arm and examined it and gasped. Trinity snatched it away.

"It's nothing, Midget. Nothing that a little herbs and ointment can't fix." She reassured.

"Where have you been? You've hardly been here at all and when you DO come home your always angry." Peter asked, becoming a bit irritated that his third in command was out and about without telling anyone where she was going.

"That's none of your business." She answered stiffly.

"As long as I'm leader I will _make _it my business," Peter said firmly, hating to get stern with her like this. "As long as you're living in this Underground, you will report back to me at all times. Now I ask you again, Trinity, where have you been?"

They stared fiercely at one another, locked in an epic battle. Trinity did not want Peter to know what she was up to. It was her own foolishness that started it all and she was determined to make it right. Or at least try and prevent as much as she could. Besides, it was none of Peter's business anyway. If she had wanted him to know, she would have told him. But seeing as how she hasn't…

She sighed angrily. "I don't have time for this." She turned to leave, still clutching her arm.

"Trinity, wait," Wendy spoke up. She sounded just as firm as Peter and when Trinity turned to stare incredulously at her, Wendy looked at Peter. "Peter, can you-"

But Peter already knew what Wendy was on about. "Of course. Come on, guys, let's go outside before dinner." He scooped up Shyla, who was nearest him, and he and Fox herded the others out of an emergency exit hole where all of them could walk out comfortably. Squeaks and Midget were the last to leave, looking back at Trinity worryingly. Wendy turned to face Amanda. "You too, Mandy."

"But-" she started to protest.

"_Mandy_," Wendy said warningly. Amanda gave up and sighed, nodded and turned to follow the others out of the tree. Wendy turned back to Trinity, who was staring at the floor. "We need to talk."

"About what? There's nothing to be discussed." Trinity said rudely, looking up this time and glaring at Wendy.

"Don't you think this is getting a bit silly?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean! Everytime you come home you take one look at me and fly out again."

"Gee, maybe because you've, I don't know, ruined my life?" Trinity said sarcastically. Wendy scoffed.

"How have I done that? All I've done is-"

"Pretty much steal my job!"

"Look," Wendy said angrily. She was tired of playing this game with Trinity. "I didn't do _anything_ wrong. Peter never even TOLD me I was going to play mother until I got here! And how was I supposed to know that the job was already taken?"

"Oh don't act dumb, Wendy! You saw from day one that _I _was _clearly_ the mother."

"BULL! I didn't see anything but a glare and your back always walking away the minute I was introduced to you. So I think _you're _the one that shouldn't be playing dumb!" Wendy shouted. "I NEVER wanted to be the mother, I just wanted to get away from London and from my family for a while, that's all!"

"No you just wanted Peter, didn't you?" Trinity said nastily. Wendy gasped.

"What? That's the _stupidest_-"

"Oh come on, don't pretend you don't want him. I've seen the way you act around him." Trinity shouted.

"Well if you haven't noticed, Peter does a pretty DAMN good job of flirting with me, too. Oh that's right, _you're never here anyway_!" Wendy was positively livid now. She didn't deserve this kind of treatment from anyone, especially Trinity. Being accused of things that she never even did, wanting Peter…Well, she did a little bit but she's not going to admit that.

Trinity shut her eyes tightly and if Wendy wasn't mistaken, beads of small tears were beginning to show. "Shut up! You don't have a CLUE what I'm going through right now!"

"So then why don't you tell me?"

"Because I _can't_! None of this would be happening if you hadn't shown up! Everything would right itself again if you just LEFT!" Trinity shouted, trying to get it through Wendy's thick skull that she would never tell her secret. Wendy crossed her arms over her chest.

"No way, forget it. I'm not going back to London. I hated it there, just as I'm sure you hated Ireland."

"I suppose Peter told you about that, did he?"

"Yes, he did. And why, all of a sudden, is this conversation about Peter?" Wendy was under the impression that Trinity was angry about the mother situation, but she quickly changed it to Peter. Could she…?

Trinity looked away. "It's not." She blushed a little, tingeing a pale pink. Wendy looked at her suspiciously.

"You don't have a…?" Her eyes widened. "You do! You have a crush on Peter!"

"Yeah, so what if I do? What's it to you?" Trinity said defensively. Despite their heated argument, Wendy couldn't help but crack a small grin for the first time in front of Trinity.

"Nothing, I just think it's rather cute."

Trinity glared at her. "Bite me. Besides, I don't like him anymore, not like I used to. He's too immature for me." She said airily.

"You'd be surprised. Immature or not he's still a little sweet." Wendy said timidly, ashamed to admit it. Trinity sighed.

"That's why I gave him up, because I knew he'd fall for you."

Wendy shook her head. "It's only because I look like my great-grandmother. I'm a spitting image, but I can't help it. It doesn't help that my name is, in fact, Wendy come to think of it." She muttered this last part and only just realized how very true it was.

"Well whatever it is, you can have him because I've got bigger things on my mind than worrying if Peter likes me or not." Trinity said and walked over to Wendy and for a horrible moment, Wendy thought she was going to do something to her. But Trinity walked right past Wendy and knelt down on one knee in front of the large counter-like furniture where the cooking was done, and opened a small door that Wendy had never noticed before. Trinity pulled out many plants and leaves, all exotic colours, and a small jar of something a sickly shade of green.

She stowed her dagger back in its rightful place and temporarily left her arm unguarded while she lugged everything in her hands. Standing up, she pushed the door closed with her foot and started walking over to the other side of the room to her bed. She threw everything down and it landed heavily with a _clunk_. She then walked back over to the table, carefully avoiding Wendy's curious gaze, and took a bowl of fruit and dumped out its contents, apples, oranges and bananas spilling onto the wooden table. She searched around for something and finally spotted it behind a large vase filled with the flowers Wendy had seen at the pond. A large, long, gray rock clutched in one hand, the bowl in the other, she walked back to her bed, plopped herself down, and threw all the plants and leaves into the bowl.

Wendy finally caught on to what Trinity was trying to do. "Do you need-"

"No, I don't need help, I know what I'm doing," Trinity interrupted, her voice angry again. "Just because we had a slightly normal conversation doesn't mean I like you any more than I did a few days ago," Wendy was slightly taken aback that their "slightly normal conversation" didn't break a little bit of the barrier. But she was starting to learn that not everything is as what it seems in Neverland. "You'd better hurry up and start cooking, I bet those kids are hungry." Trinity muttered.

"I thought that was your job." Wendy said sarcastically.

"It is, but I'd rather not infect them, because if you haven't noticed I have a rather large gash on my arm." Trinity said, mashing the plants around together, breaking them up so they were mixing. Wendy sighed hopelessly and decided to give up. She'd never be able to get through. She gave one last look to Trinity, who was scooping the green stuff out of the jar and spreading it on her arm, and turned to call the others inside and wondering if she'd ever have a normal day.

* * *

"Tink, this is just getting ridiculous!" Wendy said irritatingly. "This is the fourth sketch I've shown you, will you _please_ just pick something?" The next day, Wendy had started to come up with ideas for Tinkerbell's dress. Wendy had, coincidentally, found a lot of scratch paper and a pencil in her backpack and quickly started sketching out possible dresses. So far, Tinkerbell hadn't liked any of them.

The fairy leaned over to Peter and jingled something in his ear. "She says she wants the bottom a bit bigger," Peter translated, pointing to drawing number five. Wendy sighed and set to work, drawing another thin line a little ways from the first one. Tink jingled again. "She also said that she wants the dress to have pearls on them, it doesn't matter where."

"Oh, _now_ she tells me what she wants." Wendy muttered darkly and was beginning to think that inviting Tink to the ball was not a very wise choice if the pixie was going to be so picky about some dress.

"Are you sure you'll be able to make it in time? I mean, the ball is _tomorrow_." Amanda said, observing this from Midget's bed, where the two of them were playing.

"Thanks for reminding me, Mandy, but yes I'm confident it will be made on time," Wendy said, not looking up from the design. "If only this picky pixie would hurry up and choose something already." She added as an afterthought.

"Well now whose fault was it to invite her?" Trinity said lazily from her bed. She had a bright pink leaf wrapped around her arm that was held together with a ripped off part of her shirt. Wendy didn't answer but continued to draw until at last a smile crept across her face.

"There. I think it has all of your requirements, Tink," _And if it doesn't I'm tempted to go down to that pirate ship, steal a gun and shoot the bloody girl_, she thought. She held up her drawing for Tink to see and she skimmed it over with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, Tink smiled happily, shot up higher into the air, and danced around merrily, her whole body sounding like a million mini bells. Wendy grinned and looked to Peter. "I take it that means yes."

Peter laughed. "She loves it." Wendy sighed with relief and started collecting the papers.

"Finally. Now all I have to do is go back to the Indians and ask for some materials," Wendy said, shoving her papers and pencil into her backpack once more and stowing the bag safely around her shoulders. "Well, I'm off."

"I'll come with you." Peter offered but Wendy shook her head.

"No, that's all right, I'm quite capable of doing it myself."

"But the pirates-"

"Don't worry so much, Peter. Tink gave me a small bag of fairy dust if I ever come across a pirate, or something equally dangerous."

"Oh, just let the girl go, Peter, since she's so determined to do everything her way-" Trinity said.

"Bye, guys!" Wendy said loudly, cutting off Trinity. "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Be careful," Peter warned. "And look for Dream Weaver. She can help." He gave Wendy a small grin. She nodded and walked out the emergency exit door, stepping into the beautiful sun drenched forest.

* * *

It was a little bit easier to troop through the forest, now that Wendy knew where she was going. The sunlight mercilessly beaming down on her wasn't as scorching as it had been and the weather was a bit cooler, a light breeze passing through occasionally, which she was entirely grateful for.

Less than 10 minutes later and she came upon the Indian camp once again, the activity still as busy as ever, and she walked more confidently through the camp now that she knew they could speak English. She stopped the nearest one, asked her where she could find Dream Weaver, and the woman pointed behind Wendy to a teepee that looked very familiar. Wendy thanked the woman and turned toward the campsite.

"Hello?" She called out tentatively.

"Back here!" A disembodied old voice called. Wendy ventured further in and immediately recognized the scent of burning incense, mixes of lavender and lilac tickling her nose. She knew she had been here before…Like yesterday afternoon.

The same old woman who made their dresses stepped from around a folding dressing screen, the same place Amanda had emerged in her dress from, with a smile on her face.

"I assume you need materials for Ms. Bell?" Dream Weaver asked kindly. Wendy grinned.

"So _you're _the one Peter mentioned. You and your Sewing Mistresses come very highly recommended," Dream Weaver smiled proudly. "You're right, I need materials and fast seeing as how the ball is tomorrow night." Wendy took her backpack off her shoulders and opened the main pocket to drag out the drawing Tinkerbell had picked. Wendy showed it to Dream Weaver. "Do you have _anything _I can use to make this?"

"I have just the thing," Dream Weaver said. She turned and walked over to a huge shelf filled with many jars, some small, some large, all seeming to hold beads and jewels and string and needles. She picked a small jar that was filled to the brim with perfectly white pearls and handed it to Wendy. Next she picked two medium sized jars, one filled with some of the jewels; another filled with wiring, passing those on to Wendy as well. Dream Weaver then turned her attention to a large sized basket at her right, bent down, and started to rifle through all of the different kinds of fabric. She kept having to glance back at the drawing in her hand, but at last she emerged with a fabric.

"This," Dream Weaver said after she had stood up and turned to face Wendy, who was giving the fabric curious looks. "is perfect for making a dress. Especially if you're rushed."

"Is…Is that what I _think _it is?" Wendy said incredulously, holding out her hand.

"Yes, Wendy. This is a piece of cloud. Incredibly light, soft to the touch, cloud is easy to mold to your liking and can stay in any position you make it forever. But you must be careful, once you mold it and if you make a mistake, it cannot be reshaped," Dream Weaver said and smiled at the look on Wendy's face.

"Wow," Wendy breathed. "This is amazing. I can't believe I'm actually holding a _cloud_. I've always dreamed to know what they feel like."

"Tinkerbell will be most pleased. Don't forget what I told you, cloud is extremely rare and very hard to come by." Dream Weaver said, turning to gather more things from the shelf.

"Oh I won't, I'll be extra careful." Wendy said, holding the cloud up to her eyes and peering at it.

A few moments later Wendy piled all of her new found belongings into her backpack carefully so the jars wouldn't break. Dream Weaver stuck the cloud into a jar of its own so that Wendy wouldn't have to carry it all the way back to the Underground in her hand.

"Thank you so much, Dream Weaver. You have no idea how much this means to me," Wendy said for what seemed like the billionth time that day. The old woman just smiled and nodded.

"It is not a problem. But you'd better hurry, half of the day is already wasted." Dream Weaver said. Wendy nodded and scurried out of the tent, waving behind her to Dream Weaver, and she turned to march back into the forest and toward the one place that she could truly call home.

**

* * *

****AN – That's all for chapter 19. I had planned on going further than this, but it's already a good 7 pages and that's my limit. I'm pretty sure this story is going to have 23, maybe 24 chapters. Maybe less, I don't know, I'll just have to wait and see.**

**Okay, shout outs! I feel like doing them properly, so I will:**

**Ginnay- Awwww ((blushes)) Why thank you! ((hugs)) Yeah, I don't have much time, but I'm too into this story to stop now. I hope you liked this chapter, thanks again!**

**misshotness- Thanks! Glad you like it!**

**LiTTleLoTTe1991- Wow, the WHOLE thing? ((blushes)) Yeah, Jeremy is one smokin hot boy. LoL, it's okay that you didn't review the other ones. I'm glad you like this and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**LegallyRed- Yay! Yeah, Wendy IS getting a bit off her rocker but ((shrugs)) LoL. Yeah, after you said that about the watches, that makes sense. But I was referring to like digital watches, I just didn't mention that. Oh well. Love ya! **

**Whelp, that's all! Thanks to those of you in advance to review. This story is coming to a close and I'm determined to make it go out with a bang. Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter! See ya in 20!**

**DreamlessMermaid**


	20. Intuition

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 20

**AN - Okay, this is the chapter where things start to REALLY get fired up. I have nothing more to say, only that you read, read, read! (And review, of course) SHOUT OUTS AT BOTTOM!**

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The day of the ball dawned bright and peaceful, the last of the morning mist slowly starting to roll on by. Wendy worked diligently through the night, carefully molding and sculpting the cloud to Tinkerbell's exact measurements. Before that, however, Wendy had to mix a dye with the herbs under the counter to create Tink's desired colour for the dress. After that she had to let the cloud dry, which took almost two hours, before she began to shape it. Another three or four hours went by, stringing on pearls and jewels, before she was finally done. She had gotten so tired her eyes were drooping, and she simply just shoved the materials out of the way, put her head on her arms and went to sleep.

Peter had been watching Wendy construct the dress, occasionally adding his opinion on what looked good or not looked good or what needed to be added. When he saw her fall asleep, he took his blanket and covered her shoulders.

Wendy opened her eyes blearily, blinked and looked around. She hoped it wasn't too late in the day, she wanted to drop by and see Roselyn. She sat up to stretch when the blanket fell off. Picking it up she wondered where it might have come from when she spotted Peter curled up in front of the empty fireplace. She smiled, stood up and walked over to his sleeping form. She knelt down and draped it over him, giving him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks." She whispered ever so quietly. He moved, but did not awaken and she stood back up.

"Wendy?" A small voice came from her right. Amanda stood at the entrance to the bedroom, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Wendy grinned.

"Morning, Mandy. I finished the dress, see." Wendy pointed to the beautifully crafted work of art and Amanda smiled. She shuffled over to the table to get a better look.

"It's gorgeous, Wendy! Tink's going to love it." Amanda said.

"I hope so. I spent all night working on this thing," Wendy grabbed a banana and an orange from the middle of the table, handing the banana to Amanda. "I was going to drop by and see how Roselyn and Tariana are doing, do you want to come with me?"

Amanda nodded. "Definitely."

Wendy smiled and picked up the dress delicately. "I thought so. Let me just go put all of this in the room. Write Peter a note, tell him we'll be back in about an hour." She instructed. Amanda got hold of a piece of paper and pencil and started to scribble a note out while Wendy gathered all of the materials, shoving them into her backpack and taking everything to Peter's bedroom.

Their missions successfully completed they headed out into the forest, walking briskly now that they knew where they were going. It didn't take them long to find their destination. They peeked their heads out from the low branches of the trees, looked around and crept out. Lying among the scattered rocks were not only Roselyn and Tariana, but also other mermaids who they had never seen before. Jade was there, splashing a girl with blazing red hair, a hint of her red-orange tail sticking out of the water. Roselyn spotted Wendy and Amanda and a smile lit up her face.

"Wendy! Amanda!" She shouted. Every multicolored head turned their way and they started to swim away in fright. Roselyn laughed and called them back, reassuring them that the girls were harmless. She motioned them over. "Girls, these are the two humans I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you all." Wendy said in what she hoped was a friendly voice, for two of them were eyeing her suspiciously.

"You remember Jade and my sister," Roselyn said. Wendy and Amanda waved to them, they returned a wave. "That's Cayden," She was one of the mermaids that had been eyeing Wendy. She had gray hair but it shimmered in the morning sunlight making it almost silver, and her unnatural small pink orbs were scrutinizing. "Over there is Elektra," She was the other girl overlooking Wendy with a careful eye. Her golden hair flowed over her back and her teal green eyes were narrowed dangerously. "This is Isabelle," This mermaid looked much more friendlier with her bright yellow hair and humbling pine green eyes. "And finally these two here are Sinead and Fae." Sinead was the one with the brilliantly glistening red hair and pumpkin orange eyes. Fae had violet locks and shy light purple eyes.

"What brings you back, girls?" Tariana asked curiously.

"We're just curious as to how the talk with the King went about the negotiation." Wendy said.

"There was no talk because there will be no negotiations of any kind." Elektra said harshly.

"That's a little rash, Elektra, don't you think?" Tariana said.

"I don't understand why we'd want to go back to Mermaid Lagoon anyway. It was always so gross there." Cayden said, crossing her arms.

"It's where we grew up, Cayden! You too, if I recall correctly." Roselyn cried.

"When we left we all vowed to never go back there again and now you want the king to _negotiate_ with those…things?" Elektra said.

"From what I heard you were chased out of your own home. Your own _kingdom_ and you're just going to take that lying down? Fight back!" Wendy said in disbelief.

"Listen, girl, I don't care if you're Queen Mab herself, you are _not _to tell me what to do." Elektra snarled.

"I'm not! I just think it's stupid that you were forced out against your will and you're not even going to DO anything about it!"

"Okay, that's quite enough!" Tariana shouted and Elektra and Wendy stopped at once. "Elektra, you have no place to talk to a guest like that. Please wait for me at the palace and I will decide your punishment there." Elektra's eyes widened, hit the water in anger and swam away. "The same goes for you, Cayden." Tariana turned to face the girl, who in return gave Wendy and Amanda one last glare before slipping into the water.

"Sorry about that, girls, I don't know what's gotten into them." Roselyn apologized.

"That's okay." Wendy smiled.

"Now, on to more pressing matters-"

"Is it true you know Peter Pan?" Fae blurted out suddenly. All unnatural eye colors turned toward her and she shrunk back. Wendy blinked, her and Amanda glanced at each other.

"Yes, why?"

Fae shrugged. "I've just heard that-"

"He's the most charming, handsome, fun, bravest boy on the island? Then you've heard right, I don't deny it." A voice came slithering down from the treetops.

"Peter!" The mermaids gushed, smiles lighting their faces as Peter swooped in, only to gracefully land on the biggest rock beside Wendy and Amanda.

"Hello, ladies! I thought I'd just drop in and see how my favourite mermaids are." He said, giving the girls his best smile. The five of them melted. Fae, however, looked like she was going to do more than melt.

Wendy nudged Amanda and pointed to Fae. "What's wrong with her, do you suppose?" Tariana, being the oldest of the group, recovered quickly from Peter's award winning grin.

"She was just declared one of Roselyn's Ladies about a week ago, it's a very big deal in our world." Tariana explained. "Up until now she was never allowed to visit the surface so of course she's only heard stories of Peter and his adventures."

"Oh." Was all Amanda managed to say, having trouble imagining what that must feel like.

"Did you follow us, Peter?" Wendy asked of the boy suspiciously. He only grinned slyly.

"I'll leave that answer up to you," He responded smoothly. Wendy frowned, then only realized that he knew they were here before she came to the island. He was the one that told her about them after all. Plus the fact of the note that Amanda had left for him on the table."Now what is this I heard about negotiations?"

_Eavesdropping is more like_, Wendy thought, rolling her eyes. Tariana and Roselyn proceeded to fill Peter in about their plan of getting Mermaid Lagoon back. He nodded through the whole thing, smiling too. Apparently he liked what he heard.

"I'm always up for a challenge. Just tell me where and when and I'll be there." Peter said.

"Well, we're not really sure about the details. We were hoping that maybe Amanda had come up with something-" Roselyn said.

"What? Why me?" Amanda asked, flabbergasted.

"It was your idea in the first place. We wouldn't have even _considered_ fighting back had you not come along and said something."

"Well…yeah, but-I'm just a kid. How could I possibly make a difference?"

"Do you _really _want those pieces of trash mucking about in our lagoon?" Sinead asked.

"No…Not really, to be honest."

"You were so passionate about this before, from what Roselyn told us anyway." Isabelle said.

"No one has ever wanted to help us out this much before-" Fae said.

"Or been determined to change our minds to make us see what we've been missing out on." Jade concluded. Amanda grew into a smile. They were right, why _shouldn't _she be the one to help them out? After all she knew they would do the same thing if she and Wendy were in their situation.

"You're absolutely right. Count me in!" Amanda said, the girls cheering with delight. As they gathered around Amanda to discuss of further plans, Wendy and Peter were left out to watch the scene amusedly. Wendy smiled, glad at seeing Amanda truly happy for the first time since she's been here. And yet…Through the laughing and the giggling and the shouts of triumph emitting from Amanda, Wendy could not help but envy her. Amanda has had everything she's ever wanted from the time she was born, no questions asked. She's had tons of friends, she was beautiful and smart and good hearted, she always lit up a room with her smile…And Wendy was jealous. She didn't show it, and sometimes she did not want to think that way, but in her heart she knew it was true.

Wendy glanced up, caught Peter's eyes, and the two simply stared at each other for the longest time. She was studying him, trying to decide if this mere boy who had so suddenly pushed his way into her life, meant something more to her than just friendship. It has been a hard battle, but today…Right now, in that moment, Wendy would never love another boy as much as she did Peter, for he gave her the softest look of understanding, and she knew that he knew. She was most certain he felt the same way. She wasn't _in _love with him, certainly not…At least, not yet.

Peter made a silent gesture with his eyes at Amanda and the mermaids. Wendy looked to find her sister indulged in heavy conversation, sounding very authoritative. And then Wendy understood, cast her eyes back to Peter (whose stare hadn't left her form) and nodded. They both silently agreed that Amanda really belonged here.

"Well, I hate to break this up," Wendy said, breaking Peter's gaze. "But Mandy, we need to get going. We have an appointment with Dream Weaver, remember?" Realization dawned on Amanda's face and she nodded vigorously.

"Appointment? For what?" Peter asked in confusion. Amanda and Wendy stood up.

"Apparently, we are to report directly to Dream Weaver at noon so we can get 'made over' for the ball tonight."

"Made over?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "You don't need anything done, you look fine the way you are." Wendy blushed.

"You're going to that?" Tariana asked excitedly. The two girls and Peter nodded.

"I was invited by Tiger Lily and I invited Wendy and Amanda…invited herself." Peter said. Amanda stuck her tongue out at him childishly. He did the same thing right back.

"Maybe we'll see you there." Roselyn said.

"_You're _going?" Wendy said. Roselyn nodded.

"Me, Tariana and Daddy."

"That's great! Okay, we really need to go, so we'll see you later." Wendy said, taking Amanda's hand in hers.

"Bye, girls!" Amanda waved to her new friends and, the mermaids waving back, Wendy and Amanda trudged out of the clearing, back into the forest.

"Wait, wait, girls. You're _really _going to do this?" Peter glided expertly beside them, weaving his way through vines and low branches. Wendy sighed impatiently.

"Yes, Peter. What's the big deal?"

"Nothing, it's just I didn't know girls had to look so nice for this kind of stuff."

"Apparently you've never been to a ball." Amanda said.

"We have those gorgeous dresses hanging in your bedroom and we are _not _putting them on unless we've had a bit of work done." Wendy said.

"I still don't understand-"

"You will when we get back," The three of them walked and flew for a few more minutes before Wendy said, "We're almost there. Peter, would you please let Tinkerbell know where we're going and if she wants to join us, she may. I'm sure Dream Weaver won't mind." Peter stopped mid float.

"_I'm_ not invited?" He asked. Wendy and Amanda laughed loudly.

"No, this is for girls only! Peter, you're so silly sometimes." Wendy said, touching his arm briefly, but for that second, both of their stomachs went haywire. Wendy brought her hand back quickly, another blush creeping upon her cheeks. Peter had one too and cleared his throat.

"Okay then, I will be sure to let Tink know." Without another word he turned and flew back the way he'd come.

"You really _are_ oblivious." Amanda said after a moment.

"To what?" Wendy laughed.

"It's so obvious he likes you-"

"I know, Mandy and I…like him too." Wendy interrupted, blushing again, ordering herself do stop doing that.

"I told you so." Amanda muttered, stomping her way through the forest once more.

"Shut it." Wendy ordered as the two came upon the familiar clearing. The sun shone directly above them, its rays happier than ever as they glistened over their hair and faces, tickling their noses, browning them slowly. As expected, Dream Weaver stood a few feet away and when Wendy and Amanda stepped out of the forest, she beamed and led her army of scantily clad women with her to the young girls.

"Welcome back, girls. I trust you are both well?" Dream Weaver asked. They nodded. The elder woman smiled happily then held out her arm. "Come, there is much work to be done and little time to do it." The girls walked to the group of women, Dream Weaver bringing up the rear, and were led to the biggest tent at the edge of the clearing.

* * *

Peter left Wendy and Amanda, the twinge of pink on his cheeks refusing to go away, as did the good churning feeling in his stomach. He hated himself for feeling this way because he knew Wendy could never be his. She would want to go home sometime and his heart would be broken as he watched from her window, yet again, her happiness unfold in front of him…Without him. He couldn't help it, though. When their gazes locked at the pond, he felt a connection with her like none other, like there was something more to this Wendy than he knew.

Sometimes he got these weird feelings in the pit of his stomach of good or bad things that were to come. He didn't know what they were, but they were always accurate. He thought he'd heard someone back in London say something about "intuition" and how one can just _know _how things are going to turn out. What that what it was? He'd never heard of such a thing until then, but it did make sense.

Reaching the Underground, Peter thought he'd heard little echoes bouncing around the trees. Glancing about he saw Squeaks behind the enormous tree they called their home, face behind his hands, muttering something. Peter thought the boy must be upset about something, or else why would he be hiding behind his hands, when muffled giggles and a shushing came discreetly from behind. The Peter understood. He grinned and flew up, not wanting to ruin their game.

"…Eighty-seven, one hundred and five, nine thousand! Ready or not, here I come!" Squeaks shouted, laughing as he darted from behind the tree to begin searching frantically for his play mates.

_I really must get Wendy or Trinity to teach us how to count_, Peter thought amusedly. That's when another thought struck Peter. Where were Fox and Trinity? They knew it was their duty to look after the kids while he was gone. Fuming, he flew up to enter his hole in the Underground, when he caught the very two people he was looking for in the canopy. It looked like they were only talking and, being the curious person he was, Peter hovered underneath a rather large leaf, hidden from their sights, but close enough to where he could hear their conversation.

"…I just don't see why he picked her to go." Trinity complained.

"Maybe because he, I don't know, likes her?" Fox countered. Trinity crossed her arms.

"That doesn't matter." She replied lamely.

"So when you told her you didn't like him anymore, that she could have him, you were just lying?"

"Not completely. When I said he was too immature for me, I meant it, but I still have a soft spot for him."

Fox sighed. "Trinity, you _know _that he loves her-"

"Yes, yes, yes so what? If a dog looked like Wendy he'd be in love with that too," Trinity said exasperated. Peter frowned at this, thinking that it was highly unlikely. She sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Fox didn't say anything to that, only nodded. Trinity looked the opposite direction from Fox, staring out at the cloudless sky. Fox opened his mouth, then closed it, opened it once more, and closed it again. His face was screwed up into a funny expression and it was clear he was trying to say something, but couldn't decide what.

"Trinity, maybe you should…just…move on," Fox said with deliberate slowness, as if he were choosing his words carefully. "You know…To someone else and not…Peter." He averted his eyes to the floor, blushing. Peter frowned. What could Fox possibly mean by-Peter gasped inwardly. _Does he have a…No!_ Peter thought, grinning. There was no denying it when Trinity turned around and Fox's blush deepened. _He does! Hah!_

"Move on? To who? There is no one else on this island _besides _Peter! I mean, there are the Indian boys but none of them are my-" Trinity stopped mid sentence, eyes growing wide, seeming to finally comprehend what Fox meant. "Age…Are you saying that…that _you_…" She trailed off, gulping. Fox nodded.

"Yes." He said, looking her straight in the eyes. She looked flabbergasted, to say the least, and her mouth began the same process as Fox's had, opening and closing several times before she finally got up and descended the tree quickly. Fox sighed sadly and watched her leave. Peter, however, was holding his stomach and mouth to keep from laughing out loud. He wasn't laughing in a mean way; he was laughing at their reactions. He knew Trinity had liked him for a while and was grateful that she had finally given up. He also knew that Fox had been smitten with Trinity ever since she arrived in Neverland. On the contrary, Peter thought it was very brave of Fox to tell Trinity how he felt about her, even if it was in the funniest way possible, and Peter knew that he could never have to courage to tell Wendy.

Flying from beneath his leaf, he gave once last glance at Fox, the kids and, still chuckling, finally headed into his home.

* * *

The sun sank into the horizon, leaving a trail of hazy orange behind it, yawning, ready for a good night's rest. Night creatures and plants awakened from their slumber, eager to see what awaited them, for it was their territory now.

Three figures, one of them small, glowing and flying, were jumping, skipping and running happily through the dense jungle. Wendy felt exhilarated. She hadn't felt this good in a long time.

After the Indian women took Wendy and Amanda into their care they led themselves to the tent at the end of the clearing. Inside was simply magnificent: A large hotspring bubbled invitingly, many wooden tables accompanied with chairs surrounded the hotspring (which took up the majority of the tent). Mirrors were carved into a rectangular shape that had large white shells circling the edges. Shimmering balls of pixie dust were placed in each shell, reminding Wendy of lightbulbs for a vanity. Shortly after these discoverings, Tinkerbell zoomed in to join them.

Dream Weaver politely instructed the three of them to please undress and step into the hotspring. Wendy and Amanda did not hesitate, for they both had been craving a hot bath. A few hours later after the luxurious bath and pinning up hair, getting it just right, powdering themselves with makeup, and checking themselves out one last time, they were finally allowed to leave. Dream Weaver warned the girls, with the exception of Tinkerbell, that flying home was not a good idea if they didn't want their hair and face ruined. The old woman gave Wendy Peter's outfit that she had whipped up a few hours prior. Waving goodbye and promises to see them all later, the three left in happy spirits.

"We can't let Peter see us yet, it'll ruin the surprise." Amanda said when they reached the Underground. Tinkerbell and Wendy nodded.

"Tink, please see if he's home. If he is then we can go in the back way." Wendy asked. Tinkerbell nodded, flew through her hole, and came out a minute later, nodding yes. Wendy cursed.

"That's all right, but we'll have to give this to Fox to give to Peter." Amanda said, leading the way to the back door. It opened with small creaks but it was so loud inside that no one heard them. Wendy motioned for the other two to sneak past while she discreetly gave Fox Peter's outfit. The younger Lost were entertaining Peter and Trinity with an exciting story, something that sounded like a game of hide and go seek, and while they had their backs turned, Wendy poked Fox, gave him the outfit and pointed to Peter. Fox nodded, understanding, and Wendy tiptoed into the bedroom.

"…And then, Squeaks caught me around the middle and hugged me SO BIG," Midget pointed to her stomach, pausing for dramatic effect. "I almost died." Everyone laughed. Squeaks frowned.

"Youse exaggeratin'."

"No, I'm not! I really felt like I was going to die!"

"Her face did turn purple." Fidget said. Squeaks stuck his tongue out at Midget, who in turn did the same. Peter chuckled and grabbed an apple from the community bowl.

"Peter, this is for you apparently." Fox said, tapping his leader on the shoulder. Peter turned mid bite and raised an eyebrow as he chewed.

"Who's that from?" He asked when he swallowed.

"Wendy. I'm assuming it's your outfit for the ball tonight." Fox said.

"Wendy! So she's back?" Peter started walking briskly toward the bedroom when a voice floated out.

"Don't you dare come in here, Peter Pan!" He knew it was Wendy and he mustered a grin.

"So where am _I _supposed to change?"

"How should I know? I'm sure there's a perfectly nice tree outside that's big enough to cover everything." Wendy retorted. He blushed, hearing three giggles. The other Lost were laughing too.

"Here, Peter," Trinity said, still laughing, stumbled to her bed, took off it's wide blanket and hooked it over three rocks that jutted out from the wall high above the bed. "Change behind here." Peter looked at Fox who shrugged.

"Might as well. It's better than a tree." Peter smirked, shuffling behind the curtain of blanket.

After a few difficult minutes of Peter cursing unmentionable things, he stepped out, looking peeved. The girls oohed and ahed at the outfit. It was made of crushed velvet, but it wasn't heavy. In fact it was rather light, with dark blue and emerald green mixed together. The hem just barely brushed the floor so tips of his toes stuck out. The sleeves were very long, they went past his fingers and Peter wanted to push them up. Black diamond buttons were done up in the front, which parted into a flattering V at the neck so that it fit him just right about the shoulders. Intricate designs of leaves and the unique Neverland acorns were stitched on either side of the diamond buttons.

When Peter saw the girls' looks, he cocked a brow and smiled. "So, how do I look?" He asked.

"Very nice." Fox said, giving the two thumbs up of approval.

"You look very handsome." Shyla said gently. Peter squatted in front of her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, kiddo."

"And how do we look?" Came a voice from his left. There, all done up, were Wendy, Amanda and Tinkerbell. Everyone gasped, Trinity included. Midget and Shyla instantly ran up to them, gingerly touching the dresses while the girls giggled. Peter only had eyes for Wendy, though. She didn't look any different. He hair was a bit straighter and shinier, but other than that…Hang on. Squinting, he saw it and blinked. Walking over, he picked up the necklace that rested on her milky white skin.

"My kiss. You're still wearing it?" He asked her softly while the rest of the group were too busy with Amanda and Tinkerbell. Wendy nodded.

"Of course. I've never taken it off since I found it. I never will, either." Wendy said, smiling. He let the acorn drop to envelop her in a hug. The two laughed as he spun her around and around, Wendy shrieking with delight, the biggest smile on her face anyone had ever seen.

He knew. Somehow, Peter knew that this Wendy meant more. Much more. Maybe it was his "intuition" again, but something told him that he was destined for her and only her. Pirates or no, tonight he _had _to tell her how he felt. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.**

* * *

****AN: Wow, this chapter turned out longer than I expected. I looked back and found out that my average chapter length for this story is around seven pages. I've been ripping you guys off! That's not cool, so I hope that you've enjoyed these three extra pages :) Now, time for what you've all been waiting for: SHOUT OUTS!**

**CFlat: Well thank you very much! I'm glad you think so (blushes) Thanks for the review!**

**myxsecretxlove: I hope I've hurried along, you know how school goes. Plus I gotta get those creative juices flowing, man, otherwise it doesn't get written. LoL, thanks for the review! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**Spinderella: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**LiTTleLoTTe1991: Haha, thanks I'm glad you liked my cloud idea. I hope you don't have JUST clod in your head, LoL. Thanks for the review!**

**misshotness: LoL, thanks! I plan to continue, though I'm still not wuite sure how many chapters are left. And, I'm REALLY sorry, I don't remember which story of yours I was reading. Bad, Dani (hits self). Oh, please don't die, then you wouldn't get to enjoy this chaoter (which I hope you did by the way, lol) Anyway, thanks for the review!**

**Ginnay: By all means, pressure me. That's the only way I finish stories is if I have someone constantly scolding me. I know it sounds bad, but it's true! Most of the time I have to be in the mood to write, or if I get a really good idea, I'll write and then once I've gotten that down on paper, I don't know what else to write! So I stop, lol. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the cloud. You're the second person who has loved it :) Thanks for the review!**

**LegallyRed: Yay! I'm happy you liked it. Yeah, it's fiction, I'm not trying to make it QUITE as accurate. YOU can do whatever you want with your Peter Pan stories. Hehe. The jar is supposed to be bigger than the cloud and I know I didn't clarify that, sorry, LoL. Yesum, Trinity is quite the bitch but she will get better, I promise. Love you!**

**That's all for now. I won't get started on the next chapter until…Actually, I don't know when. Maybe after Christmas. BUT I am starting on a Newsies Christmas one shot (hopefully tomorrow) so for all of you Newsies fans, watch out for it! LoL. Anyway, I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and a merry New Year. If you plan on partying, don't do it too hard. Don't drink and drive, that's a no no. LoL. I know, I'm weird, it's 3 in the morning here and I've been up since freakin 6. Hey, almost a full 24 hours! WHEE! (head falls on desk) Must…get…sleep. See you guys in chapter 21.**

**DreamlessMermaid **


	21. Fly Me To The Moon

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 21

**AN: Whoo! I'm super pumped for this chapter, you guys have no idea. I have two days off from school this week and I am dedicated to write as much as I can. I'm sad though, my original story got deleted. It wasn't EXACTLY a screenplay…Okay, so it wasn't a screenplay at ALL, but oh well. The point is, is that I'm sad and so this chapter will hopefully make up for it : ) You guys know the drill.**

* * *

It was late, the beautiful English sun was setting behind the drabby gray buildings. Another day came and went, winter was coming to a close, and Mrs. Darling was sitting on the floor in the nursery where her two daughters had once slept only four weeks ago. She couldn't believe January was practically gone, yet there was no word from Wendy or Amanda.

She rarely did this, sitting on the bedroom floor. Too much pain passed through her even gazing at the closed door from the hallway. This was her second time to venture into the bedroom by herself. Normally she'd see her husband inside, staring at the still unmade beds and picture frames filled with the smiling faces of his daughters.

Tonight, however, was different. As she walked down the stretched hallway, coming upon the nursery, she felt something pull her in. Like an invisible hand gently took her by the arm and led her to the bedroom.

Curiosity got the better of her and she was currently positioned Indian style in front of the vast window that Peter Pan tempted her out of so long ago.

Something was happening in Neverland, something magical…And it involved Wendy.

Pondering for some minutes about what could be happening to her oldest daughter in the stars, she was then suddenly pulled out of her daydream by the doorbell.

_I wonder who that could be_, Mrs. Darling thought, a bit peeved that she was interrupted in her musings. She reluctantly got up, walked gracefully to the stairwell and padded down the twelve stairs that immediately threw her into the entranceway. "Jillian!" She exclaimed when she pulled open the door. A head of honey blonde hair catapulted itself into Mrs. Darling's startled arms. "What on Earth are you doing _here_?"

"Is it true? Has Wendy really run away?" She asked, her voice starting to tremble. Mrs. Darling couldn't understand why Jillian was here without her parents, or how she found the money to fly here. Or even how she convinced her parents to let her come alone!

"Jillian, where are your parents?" Mrs. Darling asked, looking out to the street as if they were waiting in the car. There was no car, unfortunately.

"Back home. Please, Mrs. Darling, where is Wendy?" Jillian answered shortly.

"How did you get here? Come inside before you freeze to death." Mrs. Darling said, pulling her child's best friend inside the warm house. The sun had descended fairly low and the temperature was dropping by the second. There would be a fresh blanket of snow tomorrow for sure.

"Please, I need to know! Is she okay? Where did she go? Why did she leave?" Jillian bombarded Mrs. Darling with questions even before she closed the door. Mrs. Darling turned to Jillian, a stern look on her face.

"I'm not telling you anything until you tell me what's going on with you. Why are your parents not with you?"

Jillian sighed, defeated. "They're back home. They probably don't even know I'm gone."

"Well, how did you get here? I'm pretty sure you don't have enough money."

Jillian winced. "I took my mom's credit card and called a cab to take me to the airport."

Mrs. Darling sighed. "Well, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to call your mother," Jillian's eyes widened. "She needs to know you're okay."

"No, please don't! I don't want her getting mad."

Mrs. Darling held back a laugh. "Jillian, she's going to realize eventually you're gone and that her credit card is missing. If she knows Wendy is missing too, she'll put two and two together."

Jillian groaned. "I know. Just, please don't call her yet. I've answered your questions, now please answer mine."

Mrs. Darling stared at Jillian, studying her. She was a loyal friend to come all the way to another country by herself just to make sure her best friend was okay. That's why it hurt Mrs. Darling so much to tell her the truth.

"Jillian, I think you'd better sit down. This is going to be a long story."

* * *

"Peter, are you _sure _we can't walk along the beach? I'm afraid my dress is going to tear."

"Yes, I'm sure. The jungle isn't that bad, and that material is impossible to tear. So tromp and stomp away."

"Well, it's just the moon is out and it's full. I wanted to walk under the moonlight, it's supposed to be good luck if you're bathed in the light."

"Who told you that?"

"Jillian."

"Her theories have always been a bit weird to me."

"_Every_thing about her is weird to you, Mandy."

"That too."

"We're almost there, you three."

Peter, Wendy, Amanda and Tinkerbell were stalking through the forest to the secret location of the ball. Peter had left Trinity and Foxx in charge of the Underground, but Trinity was a bit apprehensive about Peter leaving. It seemed that Trinity wanted to tell him something, but couldn't find the right words. All she told him was to be careful and that she was truly sorry. After that she scurried over to her bed and lay down, turned away from him. Peter knew to be careful because of the pirates, but why would she be sorry? For extra precaution, he tucked his dagger inside a conveniently slim pocket on the outside of his outfit.

"Does anyone know where we're going?" Amanda moaned.

"It won't be long now," Peter said. Amanda groaned again and Peter glanced over his shoulder at her, grinning. "I promise."

He was right, of course, it wasn't very long until they reached a strange sort of hill. Although it didn't look out of place for they were still in the middle of the forest. It wasn't very tall, maybe about four feet high and six to seven feet wide. It was covered in moss and grass and Peter felt around the front before finding a shell that was well concealed. He grabbed it and pulled and a door magically formed on the hill. It opened slowly for them, and Peter ushered everyone inside before looking around the still jungle and closed the door.

"Wow. That's incredible." Wendy said. The three humans were crouched inside the small entranceway while Tinkerbell buzzed comfortably in the air around them.

"That's powerful fairy magic. Made by Queen Mab herself." Peter explained. Wendy and Amanda 'wow'ed silently. Two very bright wall lamps of fire lighted the entrance. Directly in front of the group was a group of stairs that led down, the fire lamps leading the way. "Well," Peter looked to everyone. "Shall we?"

Wendy led the way this time, taking cautious steps and holding on to the wooden hand railing. The staircase spiraled down, down, down, and eventually they could stand fully upright without any problems.

"Geeze, how long does this go on?" Amanda complained.

"It's pretty far down. It's almost like a shelter, only a few people on the island know about it." Peter said.

The steps suddenly ended and they were greeted by another entranceway, but this was very large. The floor was made of black marble, a brilliantly illuminated chandelier hung in the center of the room. A few people dressed in amazing fabrics were still milling about before they headed into the ball. Two armed guards were standing on either side of the doorway that led to the party.

"Oh this is so exciting. I think I'm going to faint." Amanda said breathlessly, looking around.

"Please don't." Wendy laughed.

"Peter!" A voice called. They all turned and saw a gorgeous woman dressed in a flowing gown made of black velvet glide toward them. Her long black hair hung freely down her back and as she got closer, a red feather hung from the center of her dress and beads of topaz lined up on either side of the feather. This woman looked very familiar to Wendy.

"Tiger Lily!" Peter exclaimed. She reached him and they hugged.

"I'm so happy you made it! You look great." She gushed.

"Thanks, so do you." Peter blushed. She looked at him, and glanced at Wendy and Amanda. Peter cleared his throat, understanding her looks. "Tiger Lily, this is my date Wendy," he pointed to her and she smiled and did a sort of curtsey, but ended up almost falling over. Peter grinned. "And her sister Amanda." Amanda, however, made a perfect curtsey. Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, girls. And you officially, Wendy." Tiger Lily said. Her brown eyes glinted mysteriously and Wendy suddenly understood.

"_You_ were the woman from the village who helped us!"

Tiger Lily laughed. "Yes. I look very different, don't I?"

"You can say that again!"

"Wendy! Amanda!" Another voice called. They barely had time to turn before a pink head bobbed into view.

"Rose!" Wendy exclaimed. "Tariana! Hi!"

"I'm so happy to see you, girls." Rose said excitedly. A man, whom Wendy assumed to be King Mercer, strode quietly behind them. Elektra was there, arms over her chest and glaring at Wendy. Jade was there also, smiling widely. Rose and Tariana were dressed in simple yet elegant pink and blue dresses. They each wore small diamond tiaras and their necks and wrists were adorned with strings of pearls. Elektra and Jade were wearing the same style of dresses, only theirs were gold and emerald green. They didn't have tiaras, only a headband of pearls and Elektra wore a small chain of pearls around her waist. Kind Mercer was pretty much dressed like Peter, only his was a solid black. A large crown of pure gold sat atop his whitened head.

"You guys look _so_ different!" Amanda said, astonished.

"I know. We hardly ever leave the water, but we were invited by Tiger Lily." Tariana said, smiling at the Indian princess.

"Aunt Tiger Lily?" A boy came up to the huge group. He was dressed in sleek white robes that were made of silk.

"Yes, Bear?" Tiger Lily smiled down at him.

"Can we go in now?" He asked politely.

"Of course! I was just about to come get you," Tiger Lily looked at the others. "Okay, when we go in we're going to be announced so if you have a date, get with them quickly."

"What do you mean announced?" Wendy asked curiously.

"When you walk in, you tell the announcer at the top of the stairs who you are and who your date is. Then they shout it out to everyone. Say for instance you and Peter. He would simply say, 'Peter Pan and Wendy Darling' and you just glide down the stairs. It's easier, because then people will know who you are without having them to ask your name."

"Do people really remember ALL the names?" Jade asked in amazement. Tiger Lily nodded.

"You'd be surprised. Now, who doesn't have a date?" Amanda and Tinkerbell raised their hands. "Bear, you don't have a date, please escort Amanda."

"Sure." Bear walked up to Amanda and they smiled at each other. Tiger Lily ushered a cute and unavailable male fairy over and asked him to escort Tinkerbell. The pixie blushed as he smiled and offered her his arm.

"Tiger Lily, Jade and Elektra can be announced as our ladies in waiting." Tariana said. Tiger Lily nodded.

"Okay, everyone, prepare to be amazed." Tiger Lily said, motioning for the guards to open the doors. They obliged and a scene unlike anything anyone could have imagined met their eyes. The ballroom was huge, almost as long and as wide as a cruise ship. Thousands of balls of pixie dust somehow managed to stay on the ceiling, and they lit the room. Black marble was again used for the floor and along the far right wall there was a long row of tables filled with nothing but food. A string orchestra was playing, emitting beautiful music. Various paintings were hung on the wall, some artistic, others depicting great achievements. There was even one of Peter defeating Hook with great-grandmother Wendy and the Lost Boys cheering in the background. Wendy felt a swell of pride, knowing that her ancestor was part of something monumental.

Tiger Lily walked up to the man standing to their left and said a few words to him. Then, "Princess Tiger Lily." He boomed, his voice echoing around the room and over the music. Heads turned to see her and she walked down the stairs with ease and grace, waving to a few of her guests like a good hostess.

"I guess we're next." Peter said. He stood on tiptoe and told the man their names.

"Peter Pan, escorting Wendy Moira Angela Darling." He said. Wendy took Peter's arm.

"You told him my full name?" She asked. Peter shrugged.

"Why not? You have four of them and you never use at least three." He said and Wendy laughed as they came down the staircase. A few more heads turned to them and some even started whispering and pointing at them. The couple waited for their friends at the bottom when they reached it.

"Prince Bear, escorting Amanda Michelle Darling."

"Lord Adair, escorting Tinkerbell."

"King Mercer, escorting his daughters, Princess Tariana and Princess Roselyn. Also accompanied by their ladies in waiting, Lady Elektra and Lady Jade."

After all announcements were complete, Tiger Lily led them to a round table that was covered with a white cotton tablecloth. Four candles were placed in a circle and an unusual coloured flower stood in the center. The table fit all eleven of them comfortably and after they were seated, Tiger Lily stood before them.

"Now that we're all here, we will begin shortly. I'm just going to retrieve the stragglers and then the fun can begin." She said, leaving her unusual group of guests.

"How do you like it?" Peter leaned in to Wendy and asked.

"It's incredible. I never thought I'd get to come to one of these in my life. I've always wanted to and now I'm living every girl's fantasy." Wendy answered truthfully.

They started to relax and talk amongst themselves. Wendy was having a grand time and sometimes had to remind herself that she was talking to mermaids and fairies and Indians. Sometimes it just seemed so surreal, like she was caught in a long dream that she never wanted to wake up from. But then she would touch things and smell exotic fragrances and _fly _and realize that it wasn't just another daydream. She was living it and loving every minute of it.

Somehow, the topic changed to the negotiations of Mermaid Lagoon. King Mercer, Wendy found out, was a hard man to bargain with. She didn't want to argue with him for fear of being fried by his magnificent trident he carried, so she let his daughters argue for her. They, along with Jade and Amanda, made excellent points, although Elektra was still sulking and tried to talk the King _out _of listening to them. Wendy couldn't understand what Tariana saw in her, why she picked this snobby mermaid to be one of her ladies in waiting. Maybe Tariana was one of those girls that saw the good in everyone, which made sense why she was the next in line to take the throne.

Finally, after intense arguments, a decision was reached. King Mercer agreed to have the negotiations with the other mermaids at Mermaid Lagoon the next evening. Wendy cheered and clapped with the rest of them and could suddenly feel several pairs of eyes on her. She looked around and found one of them to be Peter's, but the rest were foreign. Different people from different tables were whispering being their hand to whomever they were sitting next to, others were pointing. It was just like when she came down the stairs and she couldn't figure out why she had sparked their interest.

"Peter, why are those people staring at me?" She asked. Peter looked in the same direction she was and frowned.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." He said, shifting position in his chair.

"I think it's because she looks so much like the Wendy in the picture." Bear said. Wendy nodded.

"She was my great-grandmother."

"Then that would explain why they're staring. I think they're trying to figure out why you're here again. They probably think you're her, Lord knows I did." Bear said.

"Really?" Amanda asked and he nodded.

"I had heard stories of a Wendy bird rescuing my Aunt and joining Peter Pan to defeat Hook and the pirates. Wendy also fell in love with Peter, but left Neverland and breaking Peter's heart." Bear explained.

Something stirred inside Wendy. She didn't know what it was. Curiosity, maybe. She never knew that great-grandmother Wendy broke Peter's heart. She felt sorry for him, knowing what it's like to loose something you love dearly. Wendy had seen Peter as a very mood-changing boy. He couldn't decide what he liked or didn't like and frankly it confused her. She didn't think he was capable of loving. She knew that he liked her but something about Peter getting his heart broken…That just made him more vulnerable, and she wanted to cry. The image of Peter Pan in her head before she met him was one of a strong, yet happy boy, unafraid of anything and brave enough to attempt everything. He didn't have faults, but he wasn't perfect, yet somehow he managed to _be _perfect. Imagining him as anything but felt strange.

Wendy quickly glanced to him and saw that he was looking down, playing with a loose string on the tablecloth. He was probably remembering that night when he took the legendary Wendy home and watched her happy life unfold before his eyes. She couldn't imagine what it was like to loose some_one_, much less the love of her life.

Tiger Lily's voice shouted over the chattering to get their attention and everyone quieted down immediately. She announced that today was Bear's ceremony into manhood and would soon become the next leader of the village. Then she said a few more things, mostly memories of him growing up and running around the village like a wild child. In short, he was going to be a great leader. A round of applause erupted among the guests and Tiger Lily finally announced that the ball has officially begun.

Bear and Amanda and the mermaid clan got up and wandered to the food table while Tinkerbell, Lord Adair, Wendy and Peter strode onto the dance floor. Wendy had never danced before in her life, much less with a boy. She knew Peter had experience, but he cheated. He was in the air and just moving about, not really dancing at all. They locked hands, he put his right hand on her waist and she rested her left hand in the only available spot, on his shoulder. At least he knew what he was doing when it came to placing his hands right.

"Can I tell you something? I've never done this before." Wendy said quietly, as if it were a huge secret. Peter smiled charmingly.

"Don't worry, it's easy. I'll lead and don't look down." Peter said. They moved easily together and Wendy was surprised how easy it was. She tried her hardest not to look down, she didn't like not knowing where her feet were going, but she molded so well with Peter that she really didn't mind. He twirled her across the floor, spinning her gently and pressing her closer to him. Her familiar aroma of cinnamon filled his nose and he couldn't stop smiling. The music ended just as sudden as it started, and the people dancing clapped and the orchestra nodded to them, then began playing again.

Wendy clapped with the rest of them and when she heard the next song, she knew it sounded familiar. She'd heard it before, a million times, she knew it. Her and Peter stood in the middle of the floor, couples dancing around them, while she tried desperately to remember what the song was.

It was like a lightbulb exploded in her brain.

"Fly Me to the Moon." She whispered.

"What?" Peter asked.

"That's what this song it, or what it sounds an awful lot like," Wendy said, excited. Peter frowned. "Frank Sinatra sang it, my dad _loves_ him, he has every record Sinatra put out. I was raised around his songs so I know all the lyrics by heart." She explained. "Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars." Wendy sang. "Oh, Peter we _have _to dance to this!" She grabbed his hand and, feeling more adventurous, pulled him to her and started to lead. She sang as they danced. "In other words, hold my hand."

"I already am." Peter said, smiling.

"In other words, baby kiss me."

"Well, I um…" Peter stuttered and blushed. Now was the perfect time to tell her how he felt. Suddenly, Amanda pounced on them from out of nowhere.

"Wendy! Sinatra!" She exclaimed.

"I know!"

"Fill my heart with song, let me sing for ever more. You are all I long for, all I worship and adore. In other words, please be true. In other words, I love…you." They sang together and fell into a giggle fit. Peter was stunned that this song was being played, because that's exactly how he felt about Wendy. He needed to tell her. Now.

"Wendy, can I talk to you?" Peter asked after the worst of her giggles subsided.

"Sure." She said, a giggle escaping every once in a while. He took her by the hand and led the two of them out of the ballroom, through the double doors, up the stairs and out of the hill. "How come we're all the way out here?" She asked when Peter closed the door.

"I just didn't want anyone to overhear us, that's all. Come over here." He whispered. He again took her hand and led them a few feet into the forest where they came upon a canopy of trees and bright lights. He held a finger up to his lips, indicating that they should be quiet. She nodded and they crouched low to crawl toward the lights. Once close enough, they peeked through the brush and saw hundreds of fairies, dancing in a circle.

Wendy gasped lightly. "A fairy ring!" She whispered. "Oh I never thought I'd see one of these!"

The fairies danced to the music that was being played by others. Wendy assumed these were the ones who couldn't or simply did not want to go to the ball. They watched them for a while, having the grandest time. Then, Wendy got an idea. She looked to Peter and nudged him. His eyes moved away from the fairy scene and went to her. She leaned in close and Peter's heart began to race. Her lips went to his ear.

"Fly me to the moon, Peter. Let's play among the stars." She whispered. He smiled, took her hand and flew the two of them up into the sky. There, he placed her arms around his neck and put both of his arms around her waist, pulling her in to a hug. Then they danced to the soothing sounds of the fairies' instruments. Peter was surprised that she didn't pull away, but lean in closer and put her head on his chest while the moon smiled pleasantly at them, bathing them with her light.

"Wendy, I have something to tell you." Peter whispered, not wanting to break the mood by speaking too loudly.

"Yes?" She whispered back.

"I haven't known you for very long, although I feel like I have. You remind me so much of your great-grandmother that I took it for granted, and started treating you like her. That wasn't right. But the more time I've spent with you, the more I realized that you're different from her. Different in a way that I can't explain, but that I know I like." Peter continued in a whisper. Wendy said nothing so he went on. "I had my heart broken by her and it took me a long time to get over her. I thought I would never find anyone to love again as much as her. She opened the door for me _to_ love, to realize all the wonderful things the feeling has to offer. If she hadn't…I never would have met you."

Wendy looked up at him in his eyes. She couldn't believe what he was saying. It was finally happening. "Are you saying that…you…"

"I like you, a lot. I mean of course I like you. Not as a friend or a brother or anything like that." He rambled. Wendy smiled.

"So…"

"So in other words…I love you."

Wendy smiled like a little girl would on Christmas morning and finding a pile of presents just for her under the tree. She hugged him tighter than she's ever hugged anyone in her life. She felt so natural in his strong arms, it felt right. She never wanted to leave his embrace.

A hand gently lifted her chin up and she was once again looking into the eyes of Peter. His swirling orbs were enchanting her, pulling her in like on her very first night in Neverland. Although, she wanted his kiss now.

His forehead leaned against hers. "Say you'll stay here forever. Please don't leave." He said.

"Forever and never." Wendy said. He inched forward just a bit so that his lips just barely touched hers. She drew a sharp breath, her heart beating faster with each passing second, and her cheeks burned. She was ready for his kiss this time and wish he would get on with it. As if reading her mind, Peter brushed his lips over hers one last time before kissing them just ever so gently. The last time this happened, the other Wendy had done it so he really wasn't sure how to do it himself. Wendy kissed him back and they suddenly ended up in a passionate thimble, not rushed or frantic, but soft, warm and loving. He ran his hands through her hair and cupped her face.

So this is love. So this is what makes life divine. He was all she longed for, all she worshipped and adored. The kiss was magical, simply put. She was getting her wish, to dance among the fairies with Peter by her side and have her first kiss. This was all a girl could hope for in life, and she never wanted it to end.

But all things have an ending, and Peter and Wendy's were the sound of bombs exploding in the distance and screams of terror cutting through the night.

* * *

**AN: Oh my (sigh) the kiss of love. Isn't it just romantic? But I don't think I'd like my first kiss to be interrupted by bombs. Anyway, cliffie! Every author does them and I am one of them. Bwahaha! (clears throat) Now, on to the shout outs:**

**shot to pieces: I'm glad you've been keeping up with it! That makes me happy. Thanks for the review! Update your story, too.**

**look for the girl with the broken smile: Hey, I really like your user name. That's a great song. Thanks for reading the entire thing (blushes) I'm glad you like it so far. Thanks for the review!**

**mistymixwolf aka Perch: Thank you! (huggles back) Yes, newsie one shots are the greatest aren't they? LoL. Thanks for the review!**

**Princess.Ginnay.of.the.Icknay: Haha, I hope I got this out fast enough for you. I'm really sorry I didn't update over Christmas break, I was super busy. My family was in town and I went to Goliad for a few days and…Craziness ensued, I can tell you that. I'm glad you like the mermaid plot, I like it too. I figured Neverland should have good mermaids that were pissed off with the bad ones for taking their Lagoon. Since there were nice ones in the cartoon and evil ones in the live action, I thought I'd blend them together and this is the result. Anyway, I'm really happy you're liking this and thanks a lot for the review.**

**tinkerflyinbell1: Thanks! I thought it was pretty sweet too, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Dimonah Tralon: It's not allowed to end unless you say so? Well then it will never end! (I could have wrote all night, I could have wrote all night, and still have wrote some more) Hah, not really. I've noticed you haven't updated anything. Why is that, mister? You're lagging behind. I'm at LEAST two months late and you haven't updated in God knows HOW long. LoL, just kidding. But seriously, update something soon. I did for you! LoL, thanks for the review hun. **

**Okay, so I have two disclaimers that I need to get out of the way. (snaps fingers and newsies instantly appear)**

**Jack: Hey, we're in the wrong fandom!**

**Me: Yes, but you're my Disclaimer Boys, so get to the disclaimer…boys**

**Newsies: Dani does not own Frank Sinatra's song, "Fly Me To The Moon" or the Disney movie Cinderella's song, "So This Is Love". **

**Me: Great job! (snaps fingers again and they disappear) They're so useful.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. I had so much fun writing it and I think it's one of my favourite chapters so far. Well, that's it. I have school tomorrow and it's about 1 AM, so see you all in chapter 22!**

**DreamlessMermaid **


	22. Hook

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 22

**AN: How was everyone's summer? Anyone make a bunch of cash? I didn't, lol. Other than that I finally GRADUATED! That's right, no more high school for me! To those that still have to attend: Good luck. May the Holy Powers of Fan Fiction be with you. **

**Anyway, here is the long awaited chapter! This story is almost over, I think I have mentioned this before and if I have, I'm _still_ not exactly sure how many chapters are left. All I know is that it's coming to an end. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Trinity bit her lip. She couldn't tell him what she knew. He'd hate her forever. Hopefully the pirates would back off and leave it alone, but as long as Hook was in charge and Peter was still alive, the cold-hearted codfish would stop at nothing to spill the boy's blood. All she could do now was pray. 

She walked up to him, looked him square in the eye, and said, while holding back tears, "Peter, please be careful tonight. You know the pirates are about and who knows what kind of tricks they could be up to. And I'm sorry for…everything." He only looked at her, and nodded, but still held her gaze, and maybe even a hint of suspicion was within them. Peter, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Amanda left shortly after that, the little ones waving furiously after them.

Trinity rose into the air slowly and made her way to her hole and flew out silently. The tears finally escaped while she glided higher to the canopy and rested on a branch. Whatever happened tonight, she would never forgive herself. It was her own jealousy that got her into this mess. Why was she cursed with such a flaming temper? She supposed it was because if her Irish heritage, but that should not be an excuse. Was she not human? Could she not control her own emotions? The answer was obvious.

As much as she hated to admit it, Wendy _was _starting to grow on her a bit. She stopped taking over the Underground and instead decided to help. Trinity knew she loved each and every Lost equally and would do anything for them. Wendy was gradually stepping down from the Mother position and slowly becoming a Lost herself…And slowly falling deeper in love with Peter.

Trinity sighed. It had been obvious from Wendy's very first day in Neverland. She knew that look all too well, the one directed at Peter, because it was the very same look that Trinity held on _her_ first day. From then on, a nagging voice kept telling her to let Peter go, that it was useless. If a relative of the famous Wendy were here, Peter was _sure _to fall in love with her. Trinity pressed on, ignoring the voice, hoping against hope that he would changed his mind and start to gaze at her the way he did at Wendy.

She couldn't exactly pinpoint when she'd given him up, only that she did. Maybe it was during their heated argument, some days ago. Or maybe it was when she discovered another boy had feelings for her…

A soft male voice called out to her in the middle of her thoughts. "Trinity? Are you up here?" She recognized it and hesitated whether she should answer. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone with him yet, but she knew he would never hurt her.

"Yes, Fox, I'm here," she answered, fighting her nervousness. The next instant, a bright mop of red hair popped up, followed by soft eyes. Fox smiled and he flew to sit beside her. "Hi."

"Hi," Fox said quietly. "What are you doing up here, all by yourself?"

Trinity shrugged. "Oh, you know me. I like to come here to think."

Fox nodded. "Yeah."

A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Then, "How are the kids?" Trinity asked.

"Passed out in front of the fire. I started to tell them a story and the night's excitement must have caught up with them because they fell asleep one by one." he said, earning a laugh from Trinity.

"I can imagine. Poor things, I guess something like this doesn't come around very often."

Fox grinned. "Actually, there was something similar that happened, before you came, but Peter didn't go so there wasn't as much thrill."

"Oh," Trinity said. More unpleasant silence. "Look, Fox, what you said the other day-"

"I know, I shouldn't have told you," He rushed, loosing his quiet tone. "It was stupid, I don't know what I was thinking." Trinity blinked.

"What? Oh, no! No, no! It _wasn't_ stupid, Fox. It was brave and sweet," Trinity said, grinning. "I've never had someone crush on me so my reaction was just shock. I wasn't trying to be…mean or anything-"

"It's okay. I figured that someone like you would never see me that way," Fox admitted, his eyes downcast, his voice hushed again. "I just wanted you to look at me the way you do, or _did_, at Peter."

That's when it hit her. Trinity had been so solely focused on winning Peter's heart that she hadn't stopped to realize that someone else was trying desperately to win _hers_. In a way, Trinity was acting like Peter, and Fox was like her. She could see now that all Fox wanted was to be loved, just what Trinity wanted.

"Oh God, Fox, I'm _so_ _sorry_," Trinity said, meaning it. "I must have hurt you pretty badly, huh?" Fox nodded.

"I don't want this to ruin our friendship. Let's just forget I said anything and move on."

Trinity couldn't hold back a small grin. "Fox, you and I both know that we will never forget this and I don't want to pretend it didn't happen. What's done is done. And no matter what happens, we will _always _stay friends." she said. Fox started up at her, a genuine smile starting to spread. Trinity leaned back on her hands and gazed at the stars through the layered leaves of the tree. "Although, you're not bad looking for a California boy."

Fox frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Trinity shrugged. "Whatever you want it to mean." she said, smirking mysteriously at him. Fox was about to respond when she suddenly hushed him. "Do you hear that?" Fox listened hard and thought he heard distant rumbling. Quick as lightning, Trinity was on her feet, peering into the forest. Fox stood up to look, too.

"Could it be thunder?" he asked. Trinity shook her head.

"It sounds too…_deep_. Plus it's coming from the jungle, not the sky." On instinct they both looked up but neither saw any sign of rain clouds or streaks of lightning. The rumble started again and Trinity swore she heard the tiniest of screams, almost as if it were millions of wild fairies on the loose. A horrible awareness dawned on her, as she remembered what tonight was.

It was the pirates.

She cursed outloud and turned swiftly to Fox, her eyes wide with panic. "Go inside, check on the kids and seal the holes immediately," she ordered firmly. "Then meet me at the bottom." Fox looked bewildered.

"What? Why?"

"Just go! Now!" she said frantically and jumped out of the tree. Fox followed after her, but went through his assigned hole. Trinity stood at the base of the Underground, trying desperately not to panic. She knew what was happening. The pirates had apparently put their plan into action. Trinity _had _to stop Hook; she didn't care if she put her life at risk. She was determined to right the wrongs that she so stupidly committed.

Fox popped out of his hole once more, sealing it away with special fairy magic that Tink provided, and Trinity signaled him to follow her. She turned and started to run. Fox flew after her.

"Trinity, what's going on? Why did you have me seal the Underground?" he shouted over the wind as he flew beside her. The moment of truth had finally come at last. Trinity kept her secret for so long, but now that she was no longer going through with Hook's devious plan, she decided to tell Fox the truth. Besides, she'd rather have him hear it from her first and not Hook, who was sure to twist the story around.

"Well…in a nutshell, the reason why I've been so…so," Trinity panted as she ran. Fox took her hand and pulled her up so that they were now flying side by side. "Thanks. The reason why I've been so angry lately is because I pretty much sold Wendy out to Hook." Fox almost skidded to a halt in mid-air.

"You did _what_!" he shouted.

"Let me explain! I was very jealous of Wendy at the time and was convinced that she stole Peter away from me. Hook found me in the jungle one day, brought me back to his ship, and made a deal that if I could be at the ball to help, he'd capture Wendy and kill her, then I'd be free to join him as one of his pirates."

"The same deal he offered the Wendy in the stories?"

Trinity nodded. "Unfortunately. I got to thinking that it wasn't worth it, I knew Hook would try to kill Peter, no matter how senile he claimed to be. Besides, if Wendy was dead and I joined him in piracy, Peter would never speak to me again unless it was in battle. I would become his enemy."

"That makes sense. I'm glad you didn't agree."

"Well, I did at first, but then a few days later I went back to Hook and told him that the deal was off. I didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Did you see that gash on my arm?" Fox nodded. "That was the result of a short one-on-one battle with Hook. His sword got me."

"Damn Codfish. So where are we going now? The ball?"

"Yes. I just hope we're not too late."

* * *

Their heads turned toward the source of the sound, hearts pounding from the exhilarating kiss, and he knew who had crashed the party. It seemed a bit early for Hook, the ball having only just begun, but then again Peter knew how Hook always liked to get things done quick and as painful as possible. 

His first instinct was to head back, to fight, but he didn't want to endanger Wendy. The couple touched down to the forest floor lightly and Peter turned to her.

"Wendy, you need to get out of here." he said firmly. To his surprise, she didn't turn to him with wide, frightful eyes, the colour gone from her face. Her eyes held a fierceness that he had never seen before, and she stood tall with determination.

"No. I want to fight." she said, her voice steady.

"But it's the pirates-"

"Oh really? All the more reason to stay. You can't beat them by yourself, no matter what you claim to have done in the past. If by any chance Hook is with them, you'll need all the help you can get." she said, crossing her arms over her chest, as if to close the argument. Peter studied her.

_Well, she definitely is a fighter_, he thought. _She's right, what if they've taken out all of the Indian guards? I guess I have no choice… _"Okay, you can fight," Wendy smiled, took his hand and dragged him to the battlefield. "But if you get hurt I'll never forgive myself."

Wendy looked back at him as they ran and smirked. "Don't worry. I'm sure I can handle a few pirates. I beat you, didn't I?" Peter frowned and chose not the respond to this.

They came upon the familiar hill, only to find the entrance blown open. They wasted no time squeezing inside and pounding down the stairs, skipping a few, the stairwell becoming wider with each passing moment. Finally, they stumbled from the stairs and into the grand foyer.

What was once so grand and glorious lay shattered and ruined. The marble floor had deep cracks running from wall to wall; chunks of ceiling lay all around them, revealing dirt underneath the plaster. Peter guessed the bombs caused all of this.

The foyer was deserted; a few bodies of Indian guards were lying by the door, which had also been blasted away. Beyond that entrance, Peter and Wendy could hear the recognizable clank of metal on metal, and they rushed to the ballroom.

Inside was chaos beyond belief. This time, several more bodies of the guests were placed about haphazardly, several more were screaming or hiding behind overturned tables. The enormous food table was one of them that got overturned, the spread was now uselessly on the floor. Paintings were off the walls, curtains were ripped to shreds, and the beautiful chandelier that once hung so proudly from the ceiling was now in millions of pieces on the floor.

Pirates were dueling it out with a few brave guests that managed to find weapons; some were loading up on precious jewels from the dead women. The few remaining Indian guards had pulled out their bow and arrows and were attempting to shoot down the pirates, but all to no avail. Among these guards were Tiger Lily, who was doing her part to stop the pirates, while Bear and Amanda cowered behind her in pure fear.

Wendy gasped when her eyes landed on Amanda. Instantly, she rushed over to the younger girl, stepping over bodies as she did so.

"Mandy!" she called. Amanda lifted her head from Bear's chest, her cheeks tearstained, her eyes still leaking tears. She untangled herself from Bear's protective arms and shuffled over to her sister. The two collided into an embrace, Wendy squeezing the young girl tight. "Mandy, are you okay?"

"Oh, God, Wendy it was awful! The pirates showed up out of nowhere after the bomb, and when I saw you weren't here I-I-" Amanda said, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

"It's going to be all right, Mandy," Wendy said soothingly, releasing Amanda. She smiled down at Amanda, wiping her tears away. "I'm okay, see? I'll be fine." A gentle hand touched Wendy's shoulder.

"They need to get out of here." Peter said, pointing to Amanda and Bear. Wendy nodded.

"Did you hear that? Take Bear back to the Underground and _stay_ there." she said. Amanda shook her head.

"What about you? I don't want to leave you."

"I'm going to stay and fight. This is no place for you and the future king," Wendy said. Amanda opened her mouth. "And don't argue with me. Just go." Amanda considered this, and finally nodded. The two hugged one last time, Wendy whispering a soft "I love you" to Amanda before she and Bear ran out of the ballroom.

A sudden scream near Wendy and Peter made them turn quickly. They saw a woman, backed into a corner with her arms over her face, while a pirate leered at her and inched closer and closer, all with a gleaming sword flashing in his hand. Peter produced his dagger from the depths of his outfit. Before he had time to help the poor woman, there came a yell from his right side. Another pirate came running toward them, sword held high. In an instant, both blades clashed together and they were ensued in battle.

"Wendy! Help that woman!" he shouted at her.

"I don't have a weapon!" she shouted right back. Peter flew into the air and did an impressive flip, landing on the other side of the pirate, where he promptly stabbed him. The injured man fell to the ground and Peter grabbed the sword from his clutches, then thrust it at Wendy.

"You do now." he said. Without another word, they spilt up to the opposite sides of the room, helping anyone they could. Wendy felt no remorse in slaying the pirates. They were bloodthirsty cutthroats that deserved to die. Although it did shock her when she forced the blade into another man's body intentionally. Obviously, she had never killed anyone before, and the squelch of the tip of the sword piercing the skin made her squirm the first time. She quickly overcame it as she killed pirates one after the other.

"Wendy!" she heard a voice call. Tariana, Roselyn, Jade and Elektra were running up to her, all four of their dresses torn in several places, their hair a mess.

"Thank God you guys are all right. Listen, you've got to get out of here, too." Wendy said when they reached her. They shook their heads.

"We want to help," Roselyn said. "They still outnumber us, so it looks like you need help."

"Okay, if you're sure." Wendy said. Tariana smiled.

"We are."

Mere minutes passed before Fox and Trinity showed up, and still the pirates kept coming. Wendy was beginning to think it was never going to end. She dodged and fought, leaping aside, rolled, and even flew sometimes, but she still fought. She paused to look around the room. The number of pirates was dwindling, the screams were gone as they were either dead or fled the room, the only shouts belonging to the pirates. King Mercer was fighting along side his girls, putting his trident to good use.

While she was gazing, Wendy came upon two figures, hiding amongst the shadows. Neither one moved and she caught a glimpse of something shine in one of the figures' right hand. Thinking it was a pirate that was afraid to come out and fight, she made a move toward them. As she got closer, they still did not move a muscle, her heartbeat quickened, and she could now make out that they were both definitely male. One was considerably tall and skinny, the other short and fat. She got an arm's length away when she held out her sword and pointed it at them, challenging them. Something kept telling her to turn around and run, these men were dangerous, and her heart sped up and her eyes widened as she saw a glint of metal, but it wasn't from his sword.

That was when he stepped out, a smirk upon his face and a malicious glint in his glowing red eyes.

"Well hello, Wendy. My, you look so much like her that I can hardly tell you apart," Hook said suavely. "I have been longing to meet you."

Wendy was so shocked that she almost stopped breathing. She felt weak, she started shaking, and she dropped her sword. It fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Hook took a step toward her, his smirk increasing, Smee shuffling out behind him.

"You…You're-" she managed to squeak out. So he _was _alive. Everything she had read in her great-grandmother's journal was true. How did he manage to escape the crocodile? That didn't matter, the only thing that did at the moment was her life. She turned to run, but Hook was faster. His hook struck out, catching Wendy by the hair. She cried out, tears instantly brimming behind her squeezed shut eyes. She felt her hands being tied together by thick rope and she struggled, but to no avail. "Let me go!" she shouted, her panic gone.

Hook bent forward so that his mouth played about her ear. "No, I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon. You see, I need you as a bartering piece," he whispered huskily. His breath caught Wendy's nose and she cringed from the awful stench. "It is uncanny how much you look like her. Although, you're _much_ prettier." He ran a finger gently across her cheek, but she jerked away from his touch, mentally kicking herself for not running sooner. He only smirked maliciously.

Wendy wondered why she was a bartering piece. Who would Hook possibly want to strike a deal with? She looked up at him and followed his intense gaze, landing on Peter, who was too preoccupied with fighting a pirate to notice Wendy's dilemma. She gasped outloud, wrenched her head out of Hook's powerful hold, and rushed forward.

"PETER! RUN!" she shouted as loud as she could above the clanging of the swords. Peter stopped, mid swing, to whirl around just in time to see Wendy being gagged by Smee. Peter glanced just beside them and saw Hook, his eyes still flashing with malicious intent. Smee pulled, surprisingly well, a thrashing Wendy to Hook's side once more, where his deadly hook promptly caught her by the hair again.

The temporarily forgotten pirate began advancing upon Peter, until the boy punched and kicked him, and fell to the ground. He turned back to Hook, glaring dangerously at the older man.

"Let her go, Hook." he said, holding his bloodstained sword out before him.

"Now why would I want to do _that_, Pan?" Hook asked in a rather bored voice, as if they'd had this conversation before.

"Because you'll have to answer to me if you don't." Peter responded bravely. His concern about Wendy overshadowed his questions of Hook's impossible return; he only wanted her safe.

"And me." Trinity stepped up behind Peter, sword in her hand, pointing it at Hook.

"Me too." Fox stood on the other side of Trinity, him, too, holding his dagger at the pirate. Hook blinked, then let out a high, cruel laugh.

"_You_? You're children, you wouldn't dare go up against me." Hook challenged.

Peter smirked. "I suppose you don't remember what happened the last time you tested that theory, do you, Codfish?"

Hook's eyes narrowed when Peter taunted him with his old nickname. "You cheated."

Peter shrugged innocently. "You merely gave up. It wasn't _me _that hovered above the crocodile."

"Enough with this idle chatter!" Hook suddenly shouted. Peter grinned, knowing he had touched a weak spot with Hook about his death. "I've come back for only one reason, Pan, and that's to have your head as a trophy."

Peter opened his arms as if he wanted to embrace Hook. "I'm right here, Codfish. Take your best shot."

Hook smiled, showing ugly yellow teeth. He flung Wendy back to Smee, who caught her by her tied hands, and unsheathed his sword. He then pointed it at Peter and began to slowly advance toward the boy.

"I've been waiting a long time for this." he whispered harshly.

"Yeah, I bet being swallowed didn't help much either," Peter said. "How _did _you manage that miraculous escape?"

They circled each other like two boxers in a ring, sizing each other up. Neither dared leave the other's gaze, but each waited to see who would make the first move.

"I was wondering when we would get to that," Hook said. "You see, when you left me dangling in the air above that dreaded crocodile, I had already been forming a plan of escape. Once I dropped into old beastie's jaws I simply slit him open from throat to belly," he was marveling at his glinting hook. "After I escaped the croc, I swam to shore, but for some reason could not remember anything. Maybe I was in shock, maybe not, but luckily Smee came and found me. He took me back to my ship and spent every full moon restoring my memory."

"What a touching story." Peter said sarcastically.

"Yes, it is, and I should really be thanking you, Pan. If you hadn't cut off my hand I never would have gotten this fine hook that has earned me my fearsome name and that has now saved my life."

"Oh, don't thank me. You're not going to be needing it anymore when I'm done with you." Peter said quietly. Suddenly, Hook lunged at Peter, a fierce determination in his eyes, and their swords clashed together with a loud BANG! Trinity and Fox had to keep changing positions because wherever they went, Hook and Peter were close behind. Neither Trinity nor Fox were helping Peter because they knew how much he wanted the satisfaction of making sure Hook was dead.

As boy and grown up battled it out, Wendy ceased struggling against her bonds to watch the scene before her. Her eyes followed them around the ballroom, constantly darting back and forth. It was like a deadly game of tennis. She saw Peter almost trip over something lying limply on the floor. If it weren't for his quick flying reflexes, he would have fallen over Roselyn. Wendy gasped, her eyes widening. Roselyn, Jade, Elektra, Tariana and even King Mercer were knocked unconscious, all laying beside one another. Wendy's gaze immediately searched for Fox and Trinity. She spotted them on the other side of the room, crouched behind an overturned table. She tried to call out to Fox, but the gag in her mouth was too big, and her words got mushed together. She kept trying anyway, but to no avail. It was Trinity that finally met Wendy's panicked stare, and when she saw what Wendy was trying to say, she got up and pulled Fox along to try and reawaken the mermaids. Wendy was surprised that Trinity actually listened to her, instead of just blowing her off. Maybe their little confrontation had worked after all.

Meanwhile, Peter and Hook were still clashing metal on metal, throwing insults back and forth at one another.

"You're getting slower in your old age, Codfish." Peter taunted.

"You've made me this way. Mark my words, Pan, you shall see the end before I."

Peter laughed. "I highly doubt that." he said. Hook lunged out and Peter dodged his sword quickly, but wasn't fast enough. The tip of the blade caught him on the arm, leaving a long line of blood in its wake. Peter cried out and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears back. He did not dare grab his arm and leave himself defenseless. Hook would gut him the first chance he got. Instead, Peter ignored the searing pain, the blood trickling slowly down his arm, and thrust back at Hook, this time earning him a satisfactory slash near the neck. The pirate staggered back, a hand flying to his neck, his fingers dampening with blood. He seemed stunned and Peter stood a good distance away, panting, his wounded arm limp at his side. He raised his sword hand, walked to Hook and pointed it at his neck. The whole room was silent, Trinity, Fox, Wendy and even Smee waited with baited breath.

"Surrender, Hook, or it's down to the depths of Hell where Davy Jones awaits you." Peter said evenly, his eyes slightly narrowed. Hook glared right back.

"Never." he spat and before Peter could take another step, Hook threw something into the middle of the room. Peter hastily stepped back from Hook, looking at the thrown object. It was a small, round and black and a short piece of rope was lit, the flame creeping closer to the black part.

Peter's eyes widened and he shouted, "Take cover!" before flying behind the nearest table. Suddenly, the bomb exploded, making the room rumble dangerously. Table flew back, chunks of ceiling fell, walls cracked, remaining glass shattered, and Peter heard the horrifying screams of his friends and Wendy. He hated himself for not being able to protect her, and now because of him she could be seriously hurt. Without warning he felt something heavy come collapsing down on him and the last thing he saw in his mind was Wendy's smiling face. Then, all went black and he knew no more.**

* * *

**

**AN: I rather like this chapter. I hope you all did too. Well, not too much to say here, I said it all in the beginning. Shout out time!**

**LegallyRed: They DID kiss! Woot! Well, honestly, I still haven't figured out how I want to end it. I'm getting closer, but once I'm closer writing wise it will be finalized. Peter is sad, it's kind of like a Greek Tragedy! Hah, okay so maybe not but you get what I mean ;) How is school going? Do you like all of your classes? Aren't you glad you're a SENIOR? Haha. YES! I heart Michael Buble! My mom and I were so close to seeing him in concert, argh! Well, if you're stealing Jack…(snatches Blink) Hah, okay, so I shall leave you with the usual. YOU NEED TO UPDATE! Hehe, love you always!**

**Dimonah Tralon: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Well, even if you don't update, maybe you could start another story. Or maybe you're like me that you have so many stories that you couldn't possibly start another one until you finished your original ones! I hate it when I get new ideas that won't leave me alone because I'm like, "No! I need to focus on the others!" It sucks sometimes, lol. Anyway, thanks again for the review :)**

**shot to pieces: Desie! OMG! Dude, you know we still need to meet up one day. When do you go back to school? I think NB goes back the 22. You need to update on Confidence because I really like that. And I gave you a review for Midnight Train, haha. Even though it took me forever to do it :) Miss you and hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**look for the girl with the broken smile: Thank you for the review! Hah, I'm glad you think it's the bomb (blushes) Thank you in return for liking my username and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks again :)**

**Little Miss Manda: Hey, I remember you! Yeah, you like Amanda because she had your name, haha. Thanks for the review. I'm happy you think my writing has improved. I think so too :D I heart Peter and Wendy, lol. Thanks again for the review and I hope you liked the chapter!**

**Okay, so that's all for now. Don't know when I'll update again (I know I'm bad) but I will. Anyway, see you all in chapter 23!**

**DreamlessMermaid **


	23. Queen Mab

Peter Pan: The Next Generation

Chapter 23

**AN – Hey everyone! I've missed writing and I hope you all forgive me for my lateness.**

**Anyway, here is chapter 23. I hope you all find it to your liking. **_

* * *

__He flew through the forest at top speed; branches cut as his exposed skin and its leaves whipped in his face. He expertly swerved around the trees, increasing his speed until at last he unexpectedly shot out of the jungle. Sunlight hit his eyes and he winced at the sudden brightness. The sun was sinking into the horizon and its warm colours illuminated the ocean. A delicate breeze blew through his disheveled blonde hair, and there, maybe twenty feet below him, he could make out a silhouette of a girl standing on the beach. Her back was to him so he couldn't tell who it was right away._

_He let himself descend to the ground slowly, landing next to her. She didn't face him immediately, but instead kept her gaze fixed on the lowering sun. The wind swept through them both, harder this time, making their hair ruffle and her badly torn dress flutter. He recognized that dress, even with all the holes and torn seams, to know it to be Wendy._

_"So I suppose this is it then." she said quietly. He stared at her profile before she finally turned to him. Her blue eyes shined with tears, yet she forced a small grin. His eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. _

_"What do you mean?" he asked. Her tears finally released and her watery smile grew as he reached out to gently wipe away her tears with a thumb. She took his hand and held it close to her cheek. He took a step forward so that they touched nose to nose._

_"I'm sorry, Peter," she whispered. "I seem to have made a habit of breaking promises." He didn't answer right away because he saw she had more to say, but seemed to have trouble doing so. "I'm afraid I can't stay." He knew exactly what she meant._

_"Why?" he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, his hand lingering upon her face._

_"I've got to clear some things up in London." she said quietly._

_"And then you'll come back, right?" She hesitated and he opened his eyes. "Right, Wendy?"_

_"I…," she sighed. "I don't know." His hand now left her cheek and he lifted his head._

_"You've got to come back!" he pleaded. She fidgeted nervously with a piece of her dress, tearing up again. "Wendy, please…I-I love you." _

_She gave a small sob. "Please don't. That's hard enough already." her voice quivered._

_"Why would you stay there? You said yourself that you felt like you didn't belong," he reminded, sweeping a strand of hair behind her ear. "So why stay in a place where you'll be miserable?"_

_"It just seems right." she answered shortly, looking away. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted it up, forcing her to look him in the eyes._

_"Nothing is right if you're not happy."_

_"I'll be fine. Really." she insisted._

_"You know what I think?" he asked, a touch of accusation in his tone. "I think you're afraid to be happy. I mean, really happy. That's why you break so many promises. You can't just let yourself fall into happiness."_

_He expected her to be shocked, to retort in denial. Instead, to his surprise, she grinned and said, "Why, Peter, I believe that's the most grown up thing you've ever said." _

_He sighed because he knew it was true. "If that's what it takes you to stay…" he trailed away. She grabbed his hand lightly and pulled it away from her chin. She laced her fingers with his and they stood there, studying each other. All the while the sun sank slower and slower into the world, the sky still scattered with last minute clouds, the light casting dark blue shadows on their faces. The tide was crawling in and waves crashed against their bare legs._

_"I don't want you to grow up," she said quietly, breaking their heavy silence. "And if I'm here…Well…," she grinned, her vision suddenly going blurry. "We can't let that happen." She gave a small sniff and he could tell she was holding back. He, however, did not as he let his tears fall, hating that she should see him this way._

_"You can't," he said. "I…I need you."_

_She smiled, but it wasn't genuine. It didn't reach her eyes. "Since when has brave Peter Pan ever needed me?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry." She let go of his hands, stood on tiptoe and gave him a parting kiss. "That belongs to you…and always will."_

_He held his head high as she turned, and for the second time in his youth, he watched as the girl he loved walk away from him and out of his life…_

Peter's eyes opened slowly, his vision curiously blurry. His cheeks felt wet, so he raised a hand to feel them and wiped away tearstains. He had been crying in his sleep, and as the dream came rushing back, he didn't blame himself.

Suddenly, a new face appeared above his. Fox beamed back at him, his messy red hair falling in his eyes.

"Good, you're awake!" he said happily. Obviously, Fox had not noticed his friend's tears, which he was silently grateful for. He was still the leader after all, no matter what. Peter tried to sit up from his position on something soft, but a striking pain on the side of his head made him fall back down. He winced.

"Ow! What happened?" he asked, rubbing his sore spot.

"A piece of ceiling fell on your head." Fox said bluntly.

Peter frowned. "What?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Fox asked.

"Obviously not." Peter rolled his eyes.

Fox sighed. "After your fight with Hook, he let off a bomb, we all took cover, and you got knocked out."

Peter's mind spun. It was all starting to come back to him. The pirates, the ball, Hook, Wendy…His heartbeat quickened and he frantically looked to Fox.

"Wendy! Where's Wendy? Is she all right?" he asked, panic-stricken. Here, Fox lost his playful grin, his head drooping.

"When the dust cleared from the bomb, Hook was gone…along with Smee and Wendy." he retold quietly. Peter's eyes widened and once again he attempted to sit up.

"I have to save her! God only knows what Hook is doing to her!" he said, ignoring the pain and dizziness.

"Whoa, hold on there cowboy!" Fox said, putting a hand on Peter's chest to stop him. "You can't just go charging in there, not with that thing on your head."

Peter scoffed. "I'm fine, Fox. You've seen me in worse conditions than this and I've always bounced back."

"I know, I know. Then you're off being the hero again," Fox said sarcastically, smirking. "Look, just lay there until Trinity comes back." Fox attempted to push Peter down, but he shoved his hand aside.

"Don't you understand? Wendy is in _danger _and she needs help!" Peter said angrily. All friendly tones aside, Fox sighed impatiently.

"Yes, Peter, I do. But right now we need to focus on your head and on that cut, too," Fox indicated Peter's right arm that was currently wrapped in a white cloth, acting as a bandage. "If you don't lie down I'll give you a bruise to add to your collection of injuries."

Peter studied his friend, caught the seriousness in his eyes, and sighed in defeat. Fox packed a pretty good punch if he got angry enough. Peter settled back down and only just noticed the familiarity of pillows and feathers. He looked around, taking into account that the two of them were in a bedroom. _His_ bedroom.

"Are we in the Underground?" he asked. Fox nodded, his usual lopsided grin reappearing.

"Yeah. When everything settled down we got King Mercer to carry you back. Boy did you look like a rag doll, swinging in his arms!" Fox laughed. Peter glared, but smiled anyway as a mental image came to his mind.

"Where is he now?"

"He and the girls went back to the forest. Rose knew you'd want to go after Wendy so she offered to help." Peter's smile grew. At least he has more back up when the time came to attack the Jolly Roger, where, from years of clichéd experience, he knew Wendy would be. He felt awful for letting her get captured, and his recent dream only made him feel worse. It felt so real, especially when he was flying through the forest. Maybe he dreamt that part when King Mercer was carrying him. It would make sense why his arms had miniscule cuts.

"So where is Trinity supposed to be coming back from?" Peter asked, steering the subject away from the dream.

"She went to the forest to find different herbs and stuff for your arm. I don't know how she learned what plant does what, but I'm thankful we have her around."

Peter nodded in agreement. "It's because she treats all the little ones cuts and bruises when they get hurt. I guess over time she's memorized what works best."

"She's a walking medicine cabinet, I tell you!" Fox said, and he and Peter laughed.

"You're not talking about me, I hope." said a voice from the doorway. The boys turned to the direction of the voice and saw Trinity leaning casually against the wall. She held a gigantic bowl in her arms.

"We were, actually. Care to join us, medicine cabinet?" Fox teased. Trinity smiled sarcastically at him, and walked over to the duo. She sat next to Peter on the edge of the bed, placing the bowl beside her. The bowl was filled with two large jars, both containing multicolored paste, a rock and a variety of green plants. "What is all that?" Fox jerked his head at the contents.

"The solution to Peter's problem." Trinity answered, reaching down and pulling out her dagger from her waistband.

"Does that include how to save Wendy?" Peter asked quietly. Trinity looked up, giving him a sad smile.

"No, sorry. Just medical problems I'm afraid," she responded slowly. They exchanged sad gazes, then she sighed. "Well, let's get you fixed up."

"Good idea." Fix agreed quickly. Trinity took Peter's injured arm and gave it a light squeeze. He sucked in a breath.

"Does that hurt?" she asked. Peter raised an eyebrow.

"No that feels wonderful. Do it again." he said sarcastically. She ignored his snide comment and continued.

"How bad?"

"Let's put it this way. If I burned your arm with a candle repeatedly, then proceeded to poke and prod at it, how would _you_ feel?" Peter asked simply. Fox snorted, holding a hand over his mouth to restrain his laughter. Trinity pursed her lips and let his arm go.

"Look, if you don't want my help then just say so." she said with forced calmness.

"I do, but you're asking me really dumb questions!" Peter laughed as he said it. Her eyebrow twitched, as if she silently agreed, and took everything out of the bowl.

She then proceeded to cut up the plants while Peter and Fox talked amongst themselves. When the plants were cut, she tossed the chunks in the bowl and ground them together with the rock so that they broke into even tinier pieces. She soon lay the rock aside and opened one of the two jars. The boys stopped talking to sniff the air. They almost gagged.

"What _is _that?" Peter said, putting a hand over his nose. Fox did likewise. Trinity, however, only wrinkled her nose, but other than that the substance has no effect on her.

"It smells like rotten eggs and dead fish." Fox said, his voice muffled.

"Not to mention it _looks_ like it, too!" Peter exclaimed. The paste was indeed a hideous mixture of gray and yellow.

She sighed. "You two are such _babies_. This is getting mixed in with the herbs, which will act as a kind of healing thing when spread on your arm," she explained. Fox opened his mouth, but Trinity beat him to it. "Don't ask me how or why, I just know it works." Fox's mouth closed. She scooped a good handful out of the jar and let it drop into the bowl.

"Are you sure you have to use that?" Peter asked, eyeing the goop warily. Trinity nodded. She wiped away the rest from her hand, picked up the rock, and started mixing everything together. Peter and Fox exchanged nervous glances, Peter wondering just what _exactly_ he'd gotten himself into.

"There, done." Trinity said when she was satisfied. She then leaned over to Peter, took his arm again, this time taking off the bandage. It unraveled quickly and she laid it to rest in her lap. She did a quick survey of Peter's gash and scooped a hefty amount of medicine from the container. With her free hand she started to spread it carefully, making sure to cover every inch. Peter was surprised to find that the paste was icy cold, despite the warm temperature of the room.

Trinity continued to distribute the herbal muck evenly down his arm until there was none left. That's when she picked up the second jar, which held more of the same type of material, only it was a pleasant pink.

"What's that?" Peter asked curiously, afraid it would smell even worse than the first.

"This," Trinity said, opening the jar. Now a more pleasing aroma filled the air. The boys sniffed and breathed in deep; they liked it. "Is what goes over that." She pointed to Peter's newly acquired medicine. "It's to mask the odor, but have no effect upon its job. What do you smell, Peter?"

Peter raised his head, his nose inching toward the jar, and breathed in deeply once again. He closed his eyes. "I smell cinnamon, nutmeg and gingerbread."

Fox blinked. "Really? That's not what I smell."

Trinity smiled. "What then?"

Fox copied Peter and after a minute or so, said, "Lavender and," he sniffed again in assurance. "Trees? I'm not sure if trees have a scent."

"That's weird. Why do we smell two different things?" Peter inquired.

"I don't know how this stuff is made, I got it from the Indians, but it's a kind of distraction paste. Whoever smells it will each smell a different thing they love the most. Peter, I'm assuming yours is Wendy."

Peter blinked. "Yeah, that _is_ Wendy!"

"And Fox," Trinity frowned. "I have no idea what yours is."

He blushed. "What do you smell?"

"Oh that's easy. Rain, oranges, fresh cut clove-" Trinity stopped midsentence, blushing furiously.

"I'm uhm…going to check on the kids." Fox said, his face still red, then quickly walked out of the room. Trinity sighed and picked out more paste.

Peter's mouth slowly grew into a smile. "I know who you smell." he taunted in a singsong voice. Trinity made a point of avoiding eye contact with Peter.

"It's not a person, it's a thing."

"Okay, I'll play along," Peter chuckled. "Why is this stuff a distraction?"

"Whoever smells it can instantly forget what they're doing," she said, dabbing more on his arm. "I've smelled this before so I'm not distracted. You didn't get distracted because…well let's face it," she grinned. "You're just distracting anyway." Peter frowned, but said nothing, and she laughed. "Anyway, I thought if Hook were to notice it, he might temporarily daydream about whatever he smells, giving you enough time to get Wendy."

Peter nodded, impressed. "Smart idea."

"Thanks. Plus, if Wendy's scent is in your mind, you'd focus on what you're there to do."

"You seem awfully keen to-" Peter suddenly yawned, his eyes drooping a bit. "Get Wendy back."

Trinity shrugged. "She's grown on me. This stuff also works if you want the wearer to-" she was cut off by a loud snore. She looked up to find Peter in a deep sleep. "Fall asleep. Well I'll be damned, it worked." She grinned as she wrapped his arm in the bandage. Then she gathered her belongings and exited the room as quietly as she could.

* * *

Through the forest, across the lagoon, and over the sea a ship floated peacefully, its flags flying against the wind. A bright full moon shone, the light shimmering on every plank, piece of wood and even on the lone figure standing on the deck. If anyone were to casually glance by, they'd think it were an ordinary ship, with its captain gazing out across the water. But the wiser occupants of Neverland knew better. The ship may be ordinary, but its captain was not.

After the bomb was set off in the ballroom, Hook made his escape with Smee and the girl. During their journey up the stair tunnel and emerging into the jungle, the infernal girl would not stop kicking and thrashing against her bonds. Hook didn't bother with her, nor did Smee. They both knew she was weak, though the more she squirmed the less convinced they were of her strength.

They finally reached the dory that was left on the beach and Smee diligently rowed them to the ship and the remaining pirates that were ordered to stay behind. Hook dragged the girl on board, across the deck and down the stairs to the underside of the ship. There, he threw her into one of the single cells.

Hook easily recalled the look on her face when he slammed the cell door. She didn't need to say anything to know what she was thinking; he could see it on her face. Those familiar blue eyes blazed back at him with such fierceness; the memory of it made him shudder. The man had never seen a fiery spirit like hers and he admired her courage.

If only she weren't so attached to Pan.

That same soft wind blew calmly into his face and salt filled his senses. He breathed in deep, then stepped away from the railing. He picked his way across the deck, over his sleeping men, guided only by moonlight. Reaching his cabin door he pulled it open and glided in wearily. He was exhausted; he could hardly keep his eyes open. Yet the old captain took a few steps and leaned over his desk, his eyes downcast at a yellowed piece of parchment.

"Come on, boy. I know you want to save her. And when you do I'll shoot you. Right through your," Hook chuckled deeply at the irony. "Noble intentions."

How marvelous this was all turning out to be.

* * *

Wendy sat, knees pulled to her chest, on the damp floor of the dungeon. Her arms were wrapped around her knees to keep away the cold. She was grateful that her dress covered her legs and chest, but left her arms bare and wished for a jacket. Or a strong pair of arms.

It had only been a few hours and Wendy already missed Peter. She knew it was silly, that maybe her love for him was just a passionate crush, and not _true_ love. She was, after all, only thirteen.

Then it hit her.

She was becoming the girl that she hated. She's reduced herself to wearing a dress, her responsibilities have skyrocketed, and she's gained feelings for a boy that only grownups get. Neverland was having the _opposite_ effect on her. Instead of staying young forever, she was growing up faster than ever. True, her body wouldn't change and she wouldn't age, but that didn't stop the true meaning of growing up.

Wendy suddenly stood up and ran to the bars. She shook the door, hoping that the loud banging would attract anyone.

"Hey! Let me out! Someone help me!" she shouted. But even as she did so, she knew it was hopeless. She was too far underneath the ship and nowhere near the island.

"Quiet down over there. You're giving me a headache." An irritated voice cut through Wendy's cries.

"You think you've got problems? I just realized that my dream has been shattered." Wendy retorted.

"What dream would that be?" Now the voice sounded rather bored.

"That what I hoped Neverland would give me is eternal youth…" her voice slowed. She sighed heavily. "And let me let go of my old life of worries and regrets. Instead this island is throwing it back in my face." Wendy sank to the ground, her cheeks and nose squished against the bars. Her stomach tightened and her eyes blurred. She held back a sob. "It's just…I figured my life was going to be so perfect. It seems like I've waited all my life to be here. And now…" she trailed off, the tears finally escaping.

Something sparkled in the torchlight. Wendy looked up and saw, in the second cell across the way, a figure moving. It shimmered and glittered and Wendy smelled violets, lilacs, lilies, roses; almost every kind of flower known, all rolled into one scent. Yet it wasn't unpleasant, it had a distinctness unlike anything Wendy had smelled before. It was intoxicating.

The figure finally came into full view and for the first time, Wendy recognized an oversized jar sitting in the middle of the cell. And in that jar was-

"Queen Mab." Wendy whispered in disbelief. The legendary fairy Queen smiled half-heartedly, while Wendy's eyes bugged out of their sockets. She was dressed in what was once an elegant red gown, but now had holes and smudges of dirt. Her feet were bare like every other guest at the ball, and her luxuriate mahogany hair was falling out of its neat updo. Her large wings glimmered in the light and even though she was a mess, there was still this sophisticated aura about her that Wendy had read in many stories.

"Hello, Wendy," the Queen sighed. "I had hoped we would meet on better terms but," she rolled her eyes. "Those bloody pirates always ruin everything."

"Y-you know…w-who I am?" Wendy spluttered.

Queen Mab grinned. "Of course I do. Everyone on the island has been talking about you ever since you got here."

"They have?"

"You're a legend."

"I am?" Wendy's head spun. This was all too much. The real live fairy Queen _herself_ was here, talking to her, _in person_. That was enough to make anyone go crazy, but for Wendy they might as well just lock her up and declare her mentally unstable. Ever since she could remember, she had a secret obsession with the stories of Queen Mab. Once when she was eight she checked out every single book the library offered on the Queen and read them over and over again. When she was a bit older, she saved up and bought any book and drawing she could find in San Francisco. Wendy drew sketches everywhere; homework, study notes, her notebooks were filled. There was something about Mab that intrigued Wendy, and now that she was getting to talk to her favourite fictional (well, not so fictional anymore) hero… "I think I'm going to pass out."

Queen Mab only laughed. It wasn't in a taunting way; it was more of a giggle, really.

"Your majesty, you have no idea how long I've wanted to meet you." Wendy said when she finally found her voice.

"Likewise."

"No, you don't understand-"

"I _do_, Wendy."

"But – But why _me_?" Wendy asked, dumbfounded. Queen Mab merely shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know. I think it's mainly because I wanted to meet the girl that's gotten Peter so…What's the phrase you humans use? 'Head over heels'."

Wendy frowned. "Are you sure that's me? I mean, my great-grandmother Wendy did the same thing, from what I can tell."

Queen Mab shook her head. "Nope, it's definitely you. Everyone has been saying how much you resemble her, that you both have a lasting, classic beauty that could charm the heart of any young man on the island. You're personalities, however, are so different. You are strong, independent, a fighter, a leader and opinionated. While the legendary Wendy was shy, patient, calm, and let's face it…A better mother."

Wendy's jaw dropped. "Hey!"

Mab merely shrugged, a very un-Queenly grin appearing on her face. "I'm only stating the truth."

Wendy cast around in her mind for memories and sighed. "I guess you're right. I wasn't _that _bad, though."

Queen Mab giggled again in delightful amusement. "It's all right, Wendy. No one expects you to be the greatest mother on the island at thirteen. Anyway," she sighed, her laughter dieing away. "Got any ideas on how to get out of here?"

Wendy groaned, her body flopping to the ground in defeat. She rolled on her back, her eyes glancing at the black, cobwebbed ceiling. "I wish." she said.

"Well we can't just sit here feeling sorry for ourselves. Time to take action!" Queen Mab stated boldly. She attempted to stand in her glass confinement, although her large wings kept getting in the way. Suddenly, a loud gunshot rang out above them, the thundering of feet pounded away, followed by more shots. Startled, Wendy and the Queen looked at one another.

"Did you do that?" Wendy asked. Queen Mab slowly shook her head.

"No, but whoever did had better get down here and release me so I can join them."**

* * *

****AN: FINALLY! I'm so glad I got this out. I've been writing the last few paragraphs little by little and I was so tired of it. I needed to move on, and so…yeah. Hope you guys liked it! Shout out time!!**

**Princess Aralee – Thank you very much! (is flattered) I hope this was fast enough for you, haha.**

**Dreamers Prodogy – Wow…I'm pretty much shocked. An entire day? Why thank you:) I'm so glad to know you're a reader that stands behind me, motivating me to write more. Thanks again!!**

**Samalamadingdong – LOL! I love your name!! Could your name be "Sam" that was made into a quirky _Grease_ lyric? Anyway, thank you! I'm glad you like it!**

**Italian Charms 587 – I shall be continuing, no matter how slow I may put out chapters, haha. Thanks!**

**Jasmine aka Jazzy – What sort of a writer would I be if I didn't have a cliffhanger? I seem to be leaving a lot of them lately. OMG! _Newsies_ is my life…in fact, it's my anti-drug. My myspace name says so, haha. Thank you so much for the awesome review. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**shot to pieces – OMG! RENT! OMG!!! (ahem) Anyway, you were kick freakin' ass at the volleyball thing 5 months ago, lol! Weren't you like the tallest one? Or was I just assuming because it's volleyball? I dunno, people always, ALWAYS ask me if I play volleyball. I answer meekly, "No, I swam in high school…" Fortunately, they think that's cool too. So….you need to update too. If I can do it, so can you! I promise to call you as soon as I get enough money together so we can buy tickets. I had to pay for Phoenix Rising first which cost half my paycheck. Oy! But it's a refreshing feeling paying for these kind of things myself, you know? Okay, enough rambling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Talk at you later, love ya!**

**LegallyRed – Hey I updated a few weeks after you! Haha. Yeah I read Lord of the Flies my sophomore year. It creeped me out. Like for real. Jack was freakin' CRAZY! I honestly didn't expect it to be so…violent. (looks to Cowboy, wondering how he became so obsessed with pigs) Yeah, yeah Miss Know It All. I didn't research the rules of sword play before I wrote it…I probably should have but I was lazy, lol. Oh by the way…I bought the Princess Bride last week : ) Score. Anyway, your turn to update! Hah, tag you're it! Love you!**

**Dimonah Tralon – You forgot about this? I'm hurt…LoL, just kidding. I know how that goes. It's like, "Oh! So you weren't dead after all!" It happens to me all the time. You must have forgotten about this again, then, haha. Anyway, thanks so much for all of your reviews. They really brighten my day.**

**So that's all. No more. All done. Finished….I mean with the shout outs, not with the story (rolls eyes) Just kidding ; ) Anyway, thanks to everyone in advance who reviews this chapter. They mean the world to me. Seriously, guys. Really. (ahem) See you in chapter 24!**

**DreamlessMermaid **


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